- 14 hours ago
A fire at a bed and breakfast in Delhi's Malviya Nagar has resulted in twenty-one deaths, including foreign nationals. Investigations into the Flourish Stay establishment revealed safety violations, such as operating twenty-four rooms despite a six-room licence and lacking a fire no-objection certificate.
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NewsTranscript
00:03Good evening, you're watching News Today at 9pm.
00:05I am Preeti Chaudhary.
00:07Our talking points for the evening.
00:10Terrible, horrific tragedy in the national capital.
00:1221 killed at a deli.
00:14Bed and breakfast fire.
00:16Capital blaze, will anyone be accountable?
00:19Political developments, Mamata Banerjee faces a coup within her own party.
00:24All of that coming up first.
00:25Allow me to take you through the headlines.
00:30At least 21 killed after a huge blaze in Delhi's Malwia Nagar.
00:34Six foreigners amongst those dead.
00:36Killer lapses emerged.
00:37Hotel had no fire NOC and operated beyond permitted limit.
00:42Manhunt launched to nab hotel owner.
00:47Delhi mayor directs probe into Malwia Nagar fire.
00:51Fire safety violations and role of MCD employees to be investigated.
00:54Report to be submitted in three days.
00:57LG orders month-long fire safety drive.
01:02Big setback for Mamata Banerjee.
01:05Rebel MLA Ritabrata, recognized as leader of opposition in Bengal.
01:10Claim support of at least 60 MLAs amidst exodus.
01:13Mamata Banerjee says allowing garbage to leave party.
01:20ED heat mounts on Didi's nephew, Abhishek Banerjee, summoned by ED in teachers' recruitment scam case, asked to appear before
01:27probing agency on 15th June.
01:34D.K. Shiva Kumar takes oath as Karnataka Chief Minister.
01:38Ji Parameshwara is the new Deputy CM.
01:41Total 13 ministers take oath alongside D.K.S. B.K. Hari Prasad, appointed as new Karnataka Congress Chief.
01:52Nearly 44,000 students apply for re-verification on CBSC portal.
01:58Despite initial tech glitches, the board continues to maintain that the portal remains secure and operational.
02:08Three arrested after Khansar's coaching center was vandalized in Patna.
02:13Security guard severely beaten.
02:14India Today accesses CCTV images of the incident.
02:22MEA confirms that an Indian national was killed after Iranian drones attacked Kuwait International Airport.
02:29Iran attacks were in response to U.S. strikes.
02:36And cine worker's body lifts non-cooperation directive against actor Ranveer Singh following his abrupt exit from film Dawn 3.
02:45Federation says they will respond to Ranveer's legal notice in a legal way.
03:02All right, viewers, the latest news break right now coming in.
03:05India Today has accessed images of the hotel 4-ish stay owner, Lavkesh Bajaj.
03:11The Delhi police issues a lookout notice against Lavkesh, his wife.
03:16Lavkesh Bajaj is currently absconding.
03:18Several lapses were found in the Malvianagar bed and breakfast.
03:22At least 21 dead in Malvianagar bed and breakfast fire.
03:25So, that's the latest that we are getting in.
03:28The owner absconding.
03:29But, Vivas, one has to ask, can the buck just stop with the owner of that bed and breakfast that
03:35got clearances and certification for a six-bed bed and breakfast
03:39and was running a full-scale hotel of 18 to 24 rooms with the clearances of only six beds.
03:49Who is it that allowed it to happen?
03:52Well, under the bed and breakfast scheme, the Delhi government's tourism department is the one that issues these certificates and
04:00licenses.
04:00And then, it is the responsibility of the fire department and the MCD to keep checks whether these hotels and
04:09these bed and breakfasts are actually following the rules and norms which have been instilled in the contract.
04:17Well, none of that was really happening.
04:19The BJP says the clearance and the license was given in 24.
04:23That was the time when the Amadmi Party was in governance, but it was after that that Lavkesh Bajaj added
04:31more rooms.
04:32From six took it to over 18 rooms.
04:34Was the MCD just looking the other way?
04:37Heads will need to roll, not just the MCD, the fire department and the tourism department as well, along with
04:45the owner.
04:46Meanwhile, the devastating fire tragedy tore through a bed and breakfast in Delhi's Malvianagar,
04:52claiming 21 lives and leaving behind disturbing questions.
04:55Investigators are now probing allegations of overcrowding, missing safety clearances and possible violations that may have worsened the tragedy.
05:04Was this an avoidable accident?
05:06Yes.
05:07Were warning signs ignored?
05:09Yes.
05:19Another day, another disaster.
05:22Another deadly reminder of a system that wakes up only after lives are lost.
05:27This time, a massive fire ripped through a restaurant-cum-hotel in Malvianagar in Delhi,
05:32turning a place of shelter into a death trap.
05:57Here we are, here we are.
06:14flames shot out of windows thick black smoke swallowed the building
06:20desperate guests trapped inside made difficult choices to escape by jumping out of the window
06:37outside sparks flew from live wires as panic gripped the narrow lanes of hausrani
06:44firefighters rushed to the spot and rescued people from the basement as well
06:48the victims who were mostly foreign nationals were taken to the nearby max hospital
07:12and now disturbing questions and glaring lapses are emerging sources say the establishment was
07:19licensed for just six rooms under the rally government's bed and breakfast key yet nearly
07:2425 rooms were allegedly being operated including rooms in the basement no fire energy only one
07:31entry and exit point a building packed with guests what about regular checks and renewal of licenses
07:39how was that allowed there were so many irregularities that have been reported here this
07:45was not an accident this was criminal negligence on the part of not just the authorities but also of
07:52course the people who were running this airbnb the government seems to have finally woken up
07:58the tragedy has triggered a political slugfest with the armadhani party accusing the delhi government
08:20of failing to curb recurring fire incidents in the capital
08:42after three major disasters in five days the collapse of a building in merali on the 30th of may
08:51the fire in a building in mukhalji nagar on the 31st of may
08:56and now the deadly blaze in malvian nagar the investigation is underway but as delhi accounts
09:02it's dead once again one question refuses to go away how many more lies will be lost
09:08before safety rules stop being treated as mere paperwork
09:12with arvind hoja jitendra bahadur and sushant mehra in delhi bureau report india today
09:23we are in the national capital five days two tragedies dozens of lives lost on may 30th a building
09:29collapsed in mehroli burying families under concrete and debris today a deadly blaze in malvian
09:34agar turned a place of shelter into a death trap killing 21 people different locations different
09:41disasters but the same haunting questions that continue to repeat themselves were these tragedies
09:48waiting to happen were warning signs missed and why does the accountability seem to arrive only after
09:54lives are lost as screaming families search for answers delhi finds itself confronting uncomfortable
10:01questions and a very uncomfortable reality how many more deaths will it take before safety stops
10:08being treated as a formality and become a priority it's a rhetorical question that we ask every time
10:14after an incident like that but let's do this again the big questions that we pose this evening
10:20the delhi fire in malvianagar who is accountable can the buck stop just with the owner here
10:27lavkesh bajaj what about the fire department the mcd the tourism department who gave a free pass to
10:34the hotel owner how were such clearing lapses ignored the delhi government mcd caught napping because one can
10:42say and the bjp government is saying that it was in 24 under the amadmi party party that licenses were
10:48given the amadmi party needs to answer those questions but from six to over 18 rooms were built
10:57and were functional with a restaurant functioning in the same building since then the mcd under the bjp
11:03continue to look the other way why are our cities death traps to its residents let's take all these
11:10questions to our panelists this evening joining me dr sudhir krishna former secretary ministry of urban
11:16development neelam krishna murthy president association of the victims of upaha tragedy
11:22god of bakshi citizens rights activist and founder help desk diksu kukreja architect urban designer
11:29environmentalist managing principal at cp kukreja architects dr ranul gupta spokesperson bjp board
11:36member cpcb and dpcc somnath bharti former minister delhi government up and former mla malvianagar
11:46abadmi party i'm joined right now and i want to begin you know with the permission of our
11:50panelists with miss neelam krishna murthy uh neelam krishna murthy you lost your children in the upaha
11:57tragedy over 30 years ago you've been fighting a battle in court 30 years since then uh i know you're
12:05cynical about the outcome but let me ask you this question ma'am do you think anything constructive
12:11will come out of this tragedy when till now you're still fighting for justice
12:18well unfortunately i'm being very pessimistic and i said nothing positive will come out of it
12:22there are going to be no changes we are never going to learn anything because human life is cheap in
12:28india
12:30and i've been working very hard trying to bring in fire safety awareness requesting the government to
12:37bring in a change in the laws but nothing has happened because it doesn't affect anyone these
12:42are ordinary people who are dying and they continue to die our so-called politicians are all above this
12:48it doesn't matter to them
12:52miss krishna murthy you know you've been fighting this battle for 30 years for your children
12:56and i was speaking to your husband earlier because there is a sense of cynicism that has stepped in
13:02how does one even take action against government officials because then the government doesn't
13:07quite allow it and permission needs to be taken from the government uh where do you think accountability
13:11needs to be fixed should it stop just with the owner what about government officials what about the mcd
13:17what about those who gave licenses what about those who took bribe money and look the other way and
13:22anyone who lives in delhi and has uh worked with the mcd and needed the mcd at some point of
13:29time
13:29they all know what really goes down well i think first of all let's start with the owner slides on
13:37the owners and occupiers he's the one who's supposed to ensure the you know the following of all ensuring
13:43that all the fire safety norms are uh followed in letter and spirit just not on paper number two the
13:49agencies who are supposed to ensure that these people follow the rules and then only the required
13:55noc's and all the other permissions are given but unfortunately they do just the opposite what
14:00they do is that they tell them what are the wire media what are the ways how they can flout
14:04the
14:04norms and they can continue running their premises all they have to do is grease the palm of these people
14:10and i have no inhibition to saying this that in the last 30 years all that's really happened is
14:15the rate of corruption has gone up tremendously and up you know for a noc maybe earlier it used to
14:22be in thousands now a cost of noc is in lacks everybody's only interested to ensure that you
14:28know the business goes on the authorities are interested to give the noc's for a price they're
14:33only interested in that and of course our courts don't want to intervene at all the courts are the
14:38silent spectators they are only good for giving adjournments if at all they give a judgment they'll do
14:43that that's happened in the the only case so far in the indian history is the uphar fire tragedy
14:47which has reached the supreme court of india and there too the owners were allowed to walk free
14:52all that we got was a judgment we did not get justice had they delivered justice had they ensured
15:00that the people responsible sent behind bars a strong message would have gone down the society
15:05nobody wants to follow the fire safety norms because they know nothing will happen in our country it
15:12takes decades for the courts to decide the matter and by the end even if it reaches the supreme court
15:18they say oh you're too old you can walk free unless there is a difference in the society the society
15:24is
15:24not going to change you want to do that please bring in the deterrence please ensure that there is
15:30exemplary punishment when there are so many government agencies involved only then and then can we have
15:37a fire safe india otherwise unfortunately these kind of fire incidents will continue to happen and lot of
15:44precious lives will be lost i spent 30 years of my life trying to ensure to bring in a change
15:50requested
15:51the government to bring in a new law to deal with man-made disaster but unfortunately nobody's bothered
15:57nobody's cares miss krishnamurti you know i think i hear you or rather we hear you but you know what
16:04is
16:04the solution you fought for 30 years and ma'am salute your courage because you've had the stamina
16:09to fight it out for 30 years for your own children who perished in that fire tragedy along with so
16:15many others 59 others lives that were lost in that tragedy you continue to seek justice 30 years on
16:21what about you know a spate of incidents that have happened since then people don't really have the
16:27stamina karol bagh tragedy that happened a few years ago in delhi which took 17 lives uh uh very few
16:33have the stamina or the means to even go to court and ask for justice this tragedy in malvia nagar
16:39miss krishnamurti where most who have perished are uh foreigners who tragically came in for either
16:45their own treatment or the treatment with of their loved ones because a big hospital was right next door
16:53but unfortunately i don't have trust in the courts but i i made a promise to my children that i'll
16:59get
16:59justice for them that's the only reason i'm going to the court but if you ask me i don't trust
17:03the
17:03courts at all they've let me down so many times and it's always the answers who are benefited either
17:09for the old age or this a double jeopardy in fact unfortunately a double jeopardy for us first we lose
17:15our children then we go to the courts and they delivered our justice so i think that's how our system
17:22is you know nobody can understand your pain miss krishnamurti uh 30 years since and i can hear it
17:28in your voice but let me ask you a very dispassionate technical question what do you think needs to
17:33change that maybe you know that there is a turnaround something really happens what is that
17:41you know i think i've been saying this for a long time number one that the fire departments must have
17:46all the nocs on the on the website if and when they issue so the incident like this happens even
17:52the media can just log on and see did this particular building have a fire safe no noc or no
17:57number two
17:58this taxes of you know there has to be exemplary punishment that's why i said all these government
18:02officials who are issuing the nocs they all must be sent behind bars you should confiscate their
18:08properties because that's how they make their properties by taking bribe do that do it for two or
18:13three cases and you see how the difference is going to come make the if only if we had a
18:18provision of
18:18a class action suit if something like this happened the owner should go bankrupt and you see the change
18:24in our country that's the only time if anyone is ever going to you know bother to ensure that fire
18:30safety norms are you know observed in letter and spirit you want to do that please bring in a change
18:37unless there is a change i'm sorry we can talk of whatever bhalat we have nothing it's sorry the
18:44people will keep on dying and people are dying in lakhs in last 30 years i've actually lost count of
18:50the number of fire incidents that i've seen and for me each time there is a fire it's a deja
18:54vu moment for
18:55us and i feel you know i feel sad that i've really failed in my mission to ensure fire safety
19:02it's sad because we don't have many people who many people we don't have people who really care
19:08for fire safety miss krishnamurti i am sorry uh of what you had to go through or what you are
19:14going
19:15through i wish you fortitude i wish you courage and thank you uh for taking the time out and still
19:20coming in and uh speaking your mind thank you for doing that for us i want to cut across to
19:27our
19:27other guests i want to go across to dr sudhir krishnamurti it's a dr dr dr sudhir krishnamurti
19:31former secretary ministry of urban development dr sudhir krishnamurti there is only one solution
19:37for someone who's fought the fight for 30 years three decades for her children who perished in upar
19:43that is that you make government officials accountable that you throw them in jail and that has never
19:49happened because the government never ever gives permission for taking action against government
19:54officials in times like these because the mcd has to be culpable the fire department has to be equally
20:00culpable as the owner of the property
20:10sir you unmute yourself please you're in mute sir
20:15yes sorry i think what you say has a lot of meaning and i i find a lot of support
20:22in that
20:23you see at the highest level you see everybody is concerned the president of india has shown
20:28concern the prime minister has shown concern you saw the chief minister the minister all have shown
20:33concern which means everybody is worried at high level higher level now it is a question of functional
20:39level levels the municipal corporation level officials they are handling on day-to-day basis but dr krishna
20:44for you know at the cost of interrupting you and i rarely do that and i am sorry concern is
20:51superficial at times concern is transient at times concern will turn into another tragedy of concern
20:57and this tragedy would be forgotten like upar has been forgotten
21:03so at least i can say in respect of the officials that it is the issue i do not see
21:09any good reason
21:10as to why the municipal commissioners of the municipal commissioner of the mcd why he or she cannot
21:17take up a drive to check all the buildings now today you don't have to send manpower
21:22to every look and corner you have got satellite imagery you've got drone system electricity bills
21:27are there gst records are there everything is digitalized also one can call it and so a drive
21:34is required i think it is high time this tragedy has taken away so many lives which cannot come back
21:39but it can at least contribute to saving many more lives that is one suggestion and the second thing is
21:45we we are all right on screen we need not get too much focused on how to punish this person
21:51because
21:52this is not the isolated case of violation of law only thing is in this case it led to death
21:59of people
22:00otherwise such violations are rampant so it is high time that the drive is taken up and i didn't
22:07all such lawbreakers are identified on one hand and the officials who allowed this to happen over
22:13time it has not happened overnight but dr krishna i think today whoever in delhi you know i don't know
22:18uh how uh the municipalities in other cities and state might work but i can vouch for delhi whoever
22:23is watching this in delhi and has somewhere interacted with the mcd know how corrupt the mcd is how
22:30corrupt the fire department is when you're looking for an noc from them so when sir you say a drive
22:36needs
22:36to be taken out i would reckon before any drive is taken about or taken out that drive needs to
22:42be
22:42against corruption in these bodies because it is so steeped in that it is difficult for any of them
22:49to function anymore because nocs are given without any check on ground or any site visit just on the
22:56basis of the money exchange and i'm saying it on camera because everyone in delhi knows how things
23:02function i want to cut across uh to mr kukreja uh architect urban designer uh and environmentalist
23:10uh mr kukreja you know let's look at it very dispassionately this is a bed and breakfast that
23:15got the certification for a six-bed bed and breakfast it went on to operate 18 to 24 rooms and
23:21when you
23:21actually look at this building uh the bi-lane is very tiny there is clearly no fire exit there is
23:27only one
23:28entry and one exit point and there is a restaurant which has been run within the same bed and breakfast
23:34without permission without a license yes true glaring lapses and obviously uh officials as you very
23:44rightly pointed out and i congratulate you for saying that so boldly on camera but the fact of the matter
23:50is that there's complete complete civic apathy and negligence we all know what goes around in the city
23:56and till exemplary punishment is not done which neelam krishnamurti mentioned i think we'll keep
24:02discussing this for years to come the fact of the matter is that all cities particularly in india are
24:09densifying and when cities densify the pressure on building more comes however it's about culture of
24:16safety in our country we have lots of prescriptive laws our national building codes fire safety norms
24:22unified building bylaws they are all there but they are on paper the fact is that we don't realize
24:27that these things have to be brought into the culture of actually following them rather than
24:32avoiding them until we don't do that these things are going to keep happening abroad it is about you
24:39know european cities they've existed for hundreds of years their lanes are narrower their buildings are
24:44more dense they have mixed use like you said commercial below and other uses on top how do they survive
24:49we
24:50don't have these kind of instances there because the infrastructure is resilient it is being built
24:56and improved cities like singapore tokyo much more dense than delhi narrower by lanes even in those
25:02cities but all these things are factored into and one more important point is that when some calamities
25:09like this happen accidents like fire happen in buildings they actually happen in other parts of the world as
25:15well it is the building which has to be the first call of safety not the fire engine or not
25:21the fire
25:21station ironically which means that the buildings that we design here should incorporate fire safety
25:28measures and that is something people here avoid we try to save pennies we try to flout the norms because
25:35that's the easier way to do it and therefore we are not safe designing our buildings or at least executing
25:41them safely and one last point i want to make here is that fires cause maximum damage due to smoke
25:47and there are measures today how you can design buildings where you keep control on smoke you do
25:54pressurization of the evacuation areas you do smoke detections you do digital twin mapping to actually
26:01look on computer and analyze your building safety how the smoke will be controlled so all these things exist
26:08we just need to get used to following this rather than going to that ncd office and doing what you
26:14said and i'm not going to repeat that so it is about us also controlling ourselves and following the law
26:21and having said all of that i will repeat that exemplary punishment is the only way forward to teach
26:29people who are sitting there building their own properties by hoodwinking the public and taking this kind of
26:35corrupt money issuing these nocs this has to stop somewhere fair point this has to stop somewhere
26:41and the buck doesn't need to stop just with the owners uh especially with the bureaucracy and the
26:46government officials there uh you know you talk about the fire department uh and the fire engines coming
26:51in of course the fire department failed in terms of uh not cross-checking on the nocs it gave
26:56or for fire safety standards but also even the fire engines because for all our reporters who went on
27:03ground those lives that were actually saved there are 40 injured some of them critical fighting for
27:08their lives most of those lives were saved by only the residents who were living around this bed and
27:14breakfast you see those mattresses that are lying on the ground with people jumping in from various
27:19floors of that bed and breakfast those were bought from the houses of these residents they did it of their
27:25own volition because the fire engines came in way later and that's the situation how things unfolded
27:33god of bakshi i want to bring you in on this because you know you speak to a neelam krishnamurti
27:39who's
27:39been fighting this fight for now 30 years where uphar is concerned and what drives her is the grief
27:44of losing her children and a need for justice for that many people don't have the drive or the means
27:50uh to sustain a long legal battle which you know that there might be no light at the end of
27:56the
27:57tunnel in this case malvian agar tragedy who's really going to go to court who's going to fight
28:01the battle most people who've perished are foreigners who were here on medical treatment who is actually
28:06going to make sure that uh they go day in and day out and seek justice which in all probability
28:12might not come because it hasn't been delivered in upar piti this is a horrific replica copy paste of
28:22goa the birch uh by romeo lane tragedy which took place just a few months back 21 killed
28:28here we have 27 dead uh it's just a very very painful thing 21 dead got till now thank you
28:3621 i'm
28:37corrected 21 killed here and it's just extremely painful to see what we have made of our country
28:42and when i say we i absolutely hold accountable those in power who have created a system which
28:49is designed uh to create not just this one tragedy today but potentially tens of thousands across the
28:56country every single day and it's only by chance by luck by whatever factors that it we're not seeing
29:02one every single day this is not an isolated building which is does not have the building permissions
29:08this is not an isolated guest house which does not have the proper licenses this is not an isolated
29:13building which does not have fire permissions this is across the country we are looking at a walking
29:18talking time bomb except that it's not one big bomb it's it's millions of micro bombs across the country
29:25and one has burst today one burst in goa a few months ago one was in karor bag one was
29:30in upar many
29:30years ago and and and millions in between that are not even making it to the news who's accountable
29:36it's the entire elected elected representatives of this country and you said it yourself and i
29:42completely agree there's massive corruption across the mcd across the state governments all the way top to
29:47bottom it's not one it's not two it's not one department every single department is hand in
29:53glove in the corruption racket in the extortion racket and not only that it's because they're
29:58looking the other way it's the business owner in this case a guest house owner who then very happily
30:04instead of six rooms opens up 25 or whatever number he opens up makes his money shares a piece of
30:10the pie with the officers everybody is happy the money flows from bottom to top and the only time this
30:16stalls for a few minutes or days is when a tragedy happens wait till tomorrow give it a few more
30:22days
30:22a couple of arrests a few bales later it'll be forgotten we'll go back exactly to what this is
30:27neeranji was absolutely correct i completely agree with her there is no chance of the system changing
30:33unless yes exemplary punishment is number one there's no question about that happening to me today
30:39technology allows us in days even in minutes there's ai there's ml we can actually
30:45create a very simplistic system to let's say do do a geotagging system where self video geolocation
30:54based photographic evidence is required mandatory from all guest houses across across delhi to begin
31:00with it's all accumulated in a system and in an inspection anytime a violation is found very strict
31:07penalties steps are taken shutdown is done if this doesn't happen and the officer is at fault
31:12exemplary punishment in action must be taken against the officer which means that he must be
31:16dismissed and jailed not just suspensions which come back alive five days later so it's top to
31:23bottom accountability has to be built in time bound accountability time bound action time bound
31:29fixing of this issue to even show that there is a sincerity in the delhi government that the the
31:35system the the uh you know whether it's mcd whether it's right they actually do something that matters
31:41to us as indians and we say yes they care about the man on the street otherwise india is not
31:47the country
31:48to be in everybody is completely aghast we have to fend for ourselves we can't walk on the street
31:53without fear what kind of a country are we living in with the roof falling on everybody's head
31:57foreigners are getting killed it's just madness i'm sorry i'm just uh this is no fair
32:02point no but your angst is understood because it's everybody's angst today and like i said you
32:07know we can we can keep angsting and we can uh say what we may but until and unless exemplary
32:13action
32:13is taken and that is not just limited to the owner uh that government officials bureaucracy are made
32:18examples of this case only then can we find a fair solution i want to bring in dr ranil gupta
32:24spokesperson delhi bjp board member cpcb dr gupta you might say that it happened the clearance the
32:31certification for the bed and breakfast happened in 2024 under the watch of the amadmi party then
32:37the tourism minister was nobody else but saw a bhardwaj unse poochie but the fact is sir you and
32:43i both know if one tries to even put a brick in delhi which is illegal the mcd will turn
32:50up
32:50and the mcd will demand their pound of flesh and that is money on the table and they look the
32:55other way
32:56so you and i both know that the mcd the fire department looked the other way the last two years
33:03and allowed this tragedy to happen so there is blood on the hands of the mcd of the fire department
33:09sir you this time are running a triple engine sir car in delhi you have your government at the center
33:14you have it at the state you have it at the mcd
33:20yeah see this is a very unfortunate incident and we are in a state of grief and sore for the
33:28loss of
33:28life and i don't want to go in for the blame game as you have rightly mentioned but it is
33:38true that
33:38we got so many things so many things in the legacy of last 27 years but just today itself honorable
33:48chief
33:48minister honorable lg has ordered for door-to-door checking of all the fire safety nubs of all the
33:56commercial buildings all the restaurants hotels and we hope whatever mess was created
34:02uh at least now onwards it will be clear and uh it has also been ordered that electricity connection
34:11will be discontinued for violation of any fire safety norms and we hope that this sort of tragic incident
34:20doesn't happen in the future um i don't want to go into the past so many things have happened so
34:26many
34:26infrastructures of the fire department but dr gupta i have one clear question you've given a slew of
34:35measures that will be taken and it happens every time every tragedy sir there's a bit of a deja vu
34:40here
34:40but i will ask you one simple question those who were responsible for within the mcd within the fire
34:47department heads don't need to just roll action needs to be taken of criminal culpability will that
34:54happen will you allow it to happen because it's for the government to sign in on that
34:58see nobody will be spared whether it is in uh karamchari whether it is an officer whether it is
35:04anybody whether it is the owner of the house fire safety department the person who has who gave the
35:12license the building department okay stay on with us sir because these are like i said some of these lines
35:18have become a rather tad repetitive but i want to go to mr somnath bharati mr somnath bharati if nobody
35:24is to be spared then the license was given in your term 2024 under the watch of the then tourism
35:30and
35:30culture minister sora bhardavaj
35:36prithi ji i have been watching listening to all the spokespersons very carefully and patiently
35:41see the problem is we are not addressing the real issue in march 2026 the palm fire tragedy happened
35:53nine people lost their lives what was the reason hydraulic ladder did not work may 2026 just now last
36:03month vivek bihar fire tragedy happened nine people lost their lives no water was in the fire brigade
36:10ladders fell short second fatty fire brigade did not reach in time in my own constituency 21 people
36:17lost their lives including 17 foreigners what was the reason fire brigade did not reach in time
36:25and i'm the one in my in my tenure as enemy melee i got built one fire station within three
36:32minutes
36:33which are three minutes away from the site of the tragedy why did it take one hour
36:39so pre facto you you you you address that's okay post facto why one hour and second important thing
36:49i want to say with you it's the locals who were giving cpr it is they were the locals who
36:57were you know
36:58spreading mattresses for the people to jump so in all the three recently held fire fire tragedies in delhi
37:05fire brigades don't work four engine sarkar pm hm lg mp mla consular mayor all are with bjp
37:19and the most important thing which possibly forgot unless and until like mauribi but mr bharati mr bharati
37:27mr bharati sir i okay i hear you on all of this i hear you on all of this about
37:33the fire department
37:34and the fire department and the fire department not coming but are you missing the woods for the trees
37:38sir when was the license given 2024 the license was given in 2024 for a six bed bed and breakfast
37:46in 2024 in 2024 who was having services department of delhi government okay who was accountable
37:58responsible for the appointment dismissal minister it was bjp don't drag into the politics and today
38:05you are the mla the building got constructed under your head you are the mla you are mcd for last
38:1610 years you were in mcd for 25 long years in one second okay that's exactly you know it's going
38:22down
38:22it's going down the same path which we have seen so many times can we just cut the faders can
38:28we cut
38:29the faders for the political spokespersons you can we cut the faders can i ask yeah can we cut the
38:36faders down put the faders down all right dr ryanal gupta let me ask you a quick question right we
38:42asked
38:42the question he was the mla it the licensing happened under his watch the mcd was under you sir finally
38:49it
38:49is your men even at that time who had to go down and check so are you saying both of
38:54you are responsible
38:55everyone has their hand in the till everyone has their hand in the till is that what we are saying
39:01no no see but he started blaming but he was the mla for 10 years his his minister was there
39:08that's the point that's the beauty of politics but definitely inquiry will be held nobody will
39:14spare okay 20 seconds 20 seconds everything also happened under your watch sir like i said
39:21ultimately it seems everyone has their hands in the till police in delhi in delhi law and order
39:29visit whom with bjp mcd for last 25 years i'm gonna leave it at that this is this is a
39:37blame game
39:37which will see no end i appreciate both the spokespersons for taking the time out and joining
39:42us this evening and putting their point forward i thank all our panelists that came in and uh
39:48given their submissions let's really hope viewers and i think we need to end on only one thing that
39:53this time around if you know the bjp can say the armed army party gave permissions but the bjp this
39:58time is in power in delhi if the bjp really wants to put their money where they really want to
40:04where
40:05their mouth is then what the bjp needs to do is that take action which is not just limited to
40:10the owner
40:11but heads shouldn't roll criminal culpability should be attached to each and every official that
40:16looked the other way we're going to go into a quick break on the other side the top focus shifting
40:20to the big political development in west bengal a revolt in the tmc emily rita bratha banerji has now
40:27pulled off a coup of sorts backed by 58 mlas he demanded and has got the leader of opposition post
40:34mamtha banerji is cornered her nephew abhishek banerji is in the line of fire here's the report
40:44the cracks in the trinamul congress are no longer just visible they have burst wide open
40:52tmc mla rita bratha banerji and his faction marched to the assembly speaker's office on wednesday
40:58claiming support of 58 mlas and declaring that they are the real trinamul congress
41:04their demand to recognize rebel leader rita bratha banerji as the leader of opposition was accepted
41:10by the speaker i'm categorically telling you have inside also told you we want mamtha banerji
41:17to be our chief advisor to give us advices that will help us in strengthening our position as an
41:25opposition as far as the west bengal state legislative assembly is concerned tmc mp abhishek banerji is now in
41:32the firing line with the rita bratha banerji faction gunning for him trouble is mounting for mamtha's
41:38nephew an ed team on wednesday issued summons to abhishek banerji for questioning in a money laundering
42:13case
42:16And if today's show of strength by her defectors wasn't enough,
42:20the numbers from the last 48 hours paint an even grimmer picture for Mamata Banerjee.
42:26At Mamata's protest program on Tuesday, only nine MLA's turned up.
42:31A day later, several MLA's from the Mamata camp attended a meeting convened by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari.
42:38This is now no longer a fight between the TMC and the BJP.
42:42This is a battle for the sole, symbol and political inheritance of the Turanamul Congress itself.
42:48With Indrajit Kundu, Bureau Report, India Today.
42:54Joining me right now is Mr. Madan Mitra, Senior Leader TMC and former Cabinet Minister West Bengal.
43:00He is also very close to Mamata Banerjee and he is one of the very few leaders today who was
43:06with Mamata Banerjee as things developed.
43:09He was in that meeting as well.
43:11Mr. Mitra, thank you for taking the time out and joining us this evening.
43:15I want to ask you a very clear question, Mr. Mitra.
43:17Where does the TMC stand?
43:19What is it that Mamata Banerjee has decided to do?
43:22Is she going to accept Ritu Brata as the leader of opposition with her continuing to be the party chief?
43:30Or with what we are hearing, that the party is going to say that we've expelled Ritu Brata and how
43:36can he be made the LOP?
43:44Listen, today is the most black day, kalankit day Bengal politics.
44:06Perhaps in the history of international political world, he is the only man who has been worsted, ousted, thrown out
44:20from two national political parties.
44:23Within a span of eight years, he is hatred by everybody and now I don't know how a party MLA,
44:33after expulsion from Trinamul Congress, immediately his status becomes his independent.
44:41Now, how can he say that I am the opposition leader being supported by the Trinamul leaders and Mamata Banerjee,
44:51our chairman?
44:52I have, I have known and he has been blessed to take over the country.
44:59I have been blessed by Ritu Brata and his support and has been blessed by her.
45:04we are going to fight but this is the most bad day for bjp bengal
45:18we are going to fight but this is not the only one
45:46supporter
45:47I talked about 40%
45:51from MLA
45:51He said that we are not going
45:54We said that
45:56Mahmouda Banerjee
45:58will sit on the
46:00opposition chairperson
46:02Mahmouda Banerjee's chairman
46:04This is Mahmouda's committee
46:05So this is what is happening
46:07and what is happening
46:09But
46:10we, myself, Mother, Mitra
46:14and others
46:14We were with Mamta Banerjee
46:16We will be with Mamta Banerjee
46:18and on June 8
46:19we will show
46:22that I will not give a friend
46:26I will not give a friend
46:29I will not give a friend
46:30If our party
46:31someone is going to get
46:32to ask for a friend
46:34this is his friend
46:37this is his friend
46:38this is his friend
46:39this is his friend
46:40who can only give a friend
46:43he will be with Mamta Banerjee
46:54he will be with Mamta Banerjee
47:06and what he will be with Mamta Banerjee
47:09he will be with Mamta Banerjee
47:43He will be with Mamta Banerjee
47:53He will be with Mamta Banerjee
48:24He will be with Mamta Banerjee
48:30He will be with
48:33put and others
48:42He will be with Gamta Banerjee
48:47Thank you very much.
49:28Thank you very much.
50:16Thank you very much.
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