Varanasi Gandhinagar: 2nd June, 2010
The Gandhinagar residential complex close to the Stevenson Towers suffered some casualties in life and property as the latter went a flame last night. It was about midnight on 1st June, that the watchman noticed the flames coming out of the tower. The fire had gutted (= affected) the lower belt of the tower-clock. Before the watchman could alert the people of the complex, the fire, aided (= helped) by the hot wind characteristic of the place, leaped the barriers and caught the wooden frame of the balcony of the first floor of the complex.
The initial stage was a pandemonium (= a noisy chaotic state). Roused at midnight by the sudden alarm and the ghastly (=frightening) scene the children became panicky and began to cry helplessly. The elderly males came out with buckets and pipes. Fortunately, it was only a four-storeyed housing complex.
It was no ordinary affair to control the flame that slowly went upward licking the outer walls, as there were no tanks nearby. But a couple of grey-haired wise men advised the youths to use the master tanks atop (= on top of) the different blocks of the complex. At their instance the gas cylinders were transferred to the opposite and safer side of the affected parts. The ladies, intelligently, put on their cylinders their own symbols.
The firebrigade arrived in full panoply (= with full fighting equipments), although a bit late due to delated (= delayed) information. By around 2 a.m. the fire almost ceased. The casualties could be heavier. There have been some semi-burnt cases, especially among women.
The fire is, reportedly, caused by short-circuit of the electric power in the Towers. A preliminary investigation reveals that the wire network of the tower in the ground-floor had long been in a wretched state. The power-man had several times complained about the risk both to the building and his own life. Only recently an official probe was made and the file-running drama – our typical – nostrum (typical remedy) had set in.
However, the government made a survey of the incident The city S.P. deployed a police contingent to protect the colony against stray (accidental) and suspicious helpers. Some wise inmate of the complex helped the police squad in checking outsiders.
The above account presents, in a nutshell, the truth of the proverb that common adversity unites men as in a common cause. This reporter, however, is witness to another experience related to the incident. Meanwhile, the government has set up a Redressa Committee that proposes to look into the grievances and recommend compensations. But, as usual, here is the rub (= the complication). This reporter found the names of several of the persons absent in the above committee – men whose views and assessments could be unreproachable (= above all criticisms). On tapping two such men (names reserved on request) he was informed that a majority in the committee had either links with the dispensing authority or were related to them. So this presents the other side of the medal of our typical politico-humane scenario. Woe betide such a nation! (= Misery is the desert of such a nation).
It is learnt that the government has set up also a probe-committee to enquire into the circumstances and causes of the fire.
