‘History Repeats Itself’: Uphaar Victims on Kamala Mills Fire

Krishnamoorthy drew a comparison between the tragedy at Kamala Mills to the Uphaar Cinema fire of 1997.

Neelam Krishnamoorthy, the president of the Association of Victims of Uphaar, hit out at the judiciary and the government for the fire that engulfed Kamala Mills in Mumbai’s Lower Parel in the wee hours of Friday, 29 December.

She drew a comparison between Friday night’s tragedy at Kamala Mills compound – in which 14 people died – to the Uphaar Cinema fire of 1997 that killed 59 people, including her two children, Unnati and Ujjwal.

I feel like I’ve failed because the Supreme Court verdict in the Uphaar case sent a completely wrong message, letting the Ansals walk free after paying Rs 30 crore each, letting the Delhi fire service official, who was convicted, go free after paying a fine.

Neelam Krishnamoorthy, president of the Association of Victims of Uphaar

In the Uphaar fire case, the Supreme Court gave a judgment in February 2017 sentencing real estate baron Gopal Ansal to one year in prison, but his elder brother, Sushil Ansal, escaped a jail term because of his old age and the fact that he had served five months and 20 days as an undertrial.

I gave up my entire life, the last 20 years, to fight for justice, but what did the Supreme Court do? Did they give justice? What kind of justice allows the people who did this to walk away after paying a few crores?

Neelam Krishnamoorthy

Neelam and her husband, Shekhar Krishnamoorthy, have even written a book ‘Trial by Fire’ that talks about how the system let them down and how despite everything that went against them, they still remain undeterred. Their daughter was 17 years old and their son was 13 on the day tragedy struck Uphaar cinema.