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Dabwali still mourns its children

Even two years after the fire that killed more than 400, mostly children, this little township in Sirsa district on the Haryana-Punjab border is still in tears.

Residents of Dabwali, who observed the second anniversary of the tragedy yesterday, are trying to cope with the physical and the mental trauma caused by the inferno in the face of official apathy towards the sufferings of the victims.

Some 250 school children and their 200 relatives and friends were burnt alive as a fire, caused by electric short circuit, engulfed the Rajiv Marriage Palace where the annual function of the DAV public school was in progress.

In the wake of the tragedy, the state government and the district administration promised huge compensations, to meet medical bills of victims and to provide those affected with suitable employment. But finally the victims were left to fend for themselves.

Twenty-five-year old Rikku, a diploma holder in fashion designing from Chandigarh, was badly burnt in the fire and had to undergo plastic surgery for her face, legs and other parts. She is still waiting for the government to pay the medical bills. She is just one of many.

Terrified of their own faces, traumatised by the scars they see on themselves, over 20 people of the 305 hurt still frequent hospitals. But they feel betrayed by the lack of support from the the government.

Gagandeep (17) and Kiran (18) have lost their limbs in the accident, and fear they face a very bleak future. As unhappy is Saroj, wife of a pesticide dealer, who was mutilated in the fire.

The promised conversion of the Rajiv Marriage Palace into a memorial ground is yet to happen and work on the community hall is also awaiting completion. Out of the promised grant of Rs 3 million, only Rs 1.5 million has been handed over.

The construction of a 100-bed hospital, as promised by the then chief minister Bhajan Lal, has not yet been completed and land for the stadium is yet to be acquired.

The residents of the town paid floral tributes to the victims of tragedy at the Palace yesterday and a silent procession was taken out by the school children to the sabha stathal. But, somehow, the pain hasn't gone away.

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