Nana Chowk fire: Few courageous acts that saved the day

Radhika Padwal and her husband Balkrishna

An Accidental Death Report (ADR) has been registered by the Gamdevi police in the Nana Chowk fire case. When the fire broke out in the morning, many people were sleeping or were getting ready to go to work. But a few people still managed to show acts of courage.

Radhika Padwal, 65, lives on the fifth floor of this building with her husband Balkrishna Padwal, 72, and daughter Priya Padwal, 40. Balkrishna has undergone brain surgery, after which half of his body is paralysed and he is unable to walk properly. Radhika's daughter Priya is mentally challenged. Padwal wakes up early in the morning to prepare food and she heard a loud bang when she was making rotis on Saturday morning. It was only after three to four minutes that Padwal saw smoke, and she started helping her husband and daughter down the stairs. Radhika told mid-day, "I needed help as my husband can't walk, but no one here came forward to help. Everyone was trying to save their own life."

Chandan Singh, 34, who works as an office boy in an office in the same building was washing a parked car. He saw that residents were shouting and saw smoke coming out of the grills. He ran to the gate of the building and there was a cork for the gas pipe, which he closed off. Due to Singh's quick thinking, the gas supply to the building was cut off. Singh told mid-day, "I have been working here since the building has been built, so I knew that the gas supply pipe had to be switched off. If this wouldn't have been done, the fire would have escalated."