Nothing has changed since 1997: Uphaar victim

“The fire at the Kolkata hospital is yet another testimony that fire safety norms were still being compromised with,putting the lives of innocent people in peril. The authorities remain lax and public places continue to be under threat of fire tragedies,” Krishnamurthy said.

Fifty-nine people were killed and 103 injured in the fire that engulfed south Delhi’s Uphaar cinema on June 13,1997,as it screened the Bollywood blockbuster Border. After years of litigation,the Supreme Court recently nearly halved the compensation awarded to the families of the victims,and also slashed punitive damages to be paid by the cinema owners from Rs 2.5 crore to Rs 25 lakh.