Parents rue slow pace of court proceedings

Surat: On the fourth anniversary of Takshashila Arcade fire tragedy, hundreds came to pay homage to the 22 deceased children on Wednesday at Sarthana. Parents and family members of the 22 deceased students remained present at the complex. In the evening, a ‘Bhajan Sandhya’ was organised at Takshashila Arcade in memory of the victims. The parents expressed disappointment over the slow pace of the court case. The 14 accused who had been arrested are now out on bail and the statements of 90 witnesses have been recorded in the court.“After four years, the case is still going on. Recording of statements of the parents has now started in the court,” said Jaysukh Gajera, father of a deceased student.The parents had approached the local sessions court in the past to speed up the case but their appeal was rejected. “We will be approaching Gujarat high court with an appeal for a fast-track hearing of the case. We hope that those responsible for the tragedy get punished at the earliest so that such tragedies are not repeated,” said Gajera. The parents are also upset as there is no progress on the plan for a memorial for the children as announced by some elected office-bearers of SMC. “SMC office-bearers had announced it in budget but nothing has been done on this front. They can develop a memorial in a few weeks when so many major projects are completed in a few months,” said one of the parents. On May 24, 2019, a fire on the illegally built fourth floor of Takshashila Arcade in Sarthana had claimed the lives of 22 young students, including that of a toddler. The students were in a coaching class to prepare for admission to interior design and architecture courses. While most of the students had died by inhaling smoke, a few died after jumping from a window.The fire started on the first floor because of a spark in the outer unit of an AC. The fire in the AC outer unit set a flex banner on fire, which spread to upper floors. Highly inflammable material like car tyres and wooden desks kept in the building led the fire to spread fast. The wooden staircase connecting the fourth floor to the rest of the building also caught fire because of which the students could not go out. In all, 14 persons, including officials from Surat Fire and Emergency Services (SFES), Surat Municipal Corporation and Dakshin Gujarat Vij Company Ltd and developers of the building, have been arrested.
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