Lucknow : Disturbing news of lifts mishaps keep coming every alternate day and shook us, but this time this news from Lucknow will make you feel what is the sense of living in high rise on the verge of child’s risk? The girl returning from school suddenly got stuck in the lift and was rescued after 20minutes. Meanwhile, she kept screaming and pleading for help. The video of this incident is going viral on social media, causing everyone’s soul to tremble.
Know where it took place
This heart-wrenching incident happened in Lucknow’s Janeshwar Enclave Apartment with Ashish Awasthi’s family. On Wednesday afternoon his daughter Dhvani Awasthi was returning from her school. After which she took the lift without any elder support. Then suddenly the power went off, due to which the lift stopped. She got very scared and started struggling to get out.
“Bhagwan bucha lo mujhe…”
In the viral video, it can be seen how Dhwani is stuck alone in the lift and is trying to get out. She tried to rescue herself by kicking the lift door or by trying to open the gates by using both hands. She was pleading by seeing in the camera to help her. Seeing everything failing, she prays to God, ‘Oh God, save me..’
Gates remained locked for 20 minutes
Normally, in case of power failure or any other problem, the lifts open on the nearby floor, but this did not happen here and as soon as the power went out, the lift went to the basement. Meanwhile, Dhwani remained stuck in the lift for 20 minutes, after which she was rescued safely but Dhwani is nervous after the incident.
Delay in the Lifts Act, No concern to the authorities
The question is that when accidents of getting stuck in lifts are happening again and again, then why is there a delay in bringing the Lift Act? As per the information, the Lift Act was first implemented in Bombay in the country, given the multi-storey buildings there, this law was implemented in 1939 itself. Since then, this arrangement has been made in 11 states of the country, but no decision has been taken yet in Uttar Pradesh.
Know what is the Lift Act
It is illegal to install a lift without the approval of the regulatory body decided by the government.
It is illegal not to get the lift checked regularly.
It is illegal to stop the officer who came to check the lift.
Provision of two years imprisonment for hiding lift accident
Thousands of multi-storey projects in Uttar Pradesh, no lift safety law
Multi-storey projects are being built in all the cities of Uttar Pradesh including Noida, Greater Noida, Ghaziabad, Lucknow, Kanpur, Varanasi, and Meerut. The number of these projects is thousands, in which lakhs of people are living or go daily for business jobs. Despite this, you will be surprised to know that there is no law related to lifting safety in this most populous state of the country. Due to this, the government system remains silent on lift falls or other such accidents and the negligence of builders is not being curbed. Although the UP government had discussed the Lift Act about a month ago, nothing has happened on paper yet on the ground.
Lift Act is applicable in 11 states of the country
Till now 11 states in the country have made laws regarding safety related to lifts. These states include Maharashtra, Karnataka, Haryana, West Bengal, Delhi, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Jharkhand, Assam and even a small state like Himachal Pradesh. This law has been in force in Maharashtra even before independence. In fact, in Maharashtra, which was the Bombay Presidency before independence, the Lift Act came into existence in the year 1939. After this, it has been made more stringent through amendments.
No maintenance is the reason for lift failure
Experts say that the average age of a lift can be only 20-25 years, that too when all parties take care of its repairs. If the lift is not of good quality then this age can also be reduced. According to the National Building Code 2016, a lift should be mandatory for buildings with a height of more than 15 meters and a stretcher lift is also mandatory for buildings with a height of more than 30 meters. The most important thing for a lift is its maintenance at regular intervals. If this continues then the risk of an accident can be greatly reduced.
Apartment Times contacted the activists who are fighting for the Lifts Act
Ranjan Tomar, President, of NOVRA (Noida Village Residents Association) says, “We strongly support the Lift Act and are demanding the implementation of it. My family members are asthmatic and I feel scared by the thought of what will happen if they stuck in a lift. I have stuck once for 2-3 minutes so I know how scary it is and what seconds it takes to become life-threatening.”
he continues, ” People from villages are also living in high rises now and there is still a feeling of fear while using lifts and such news makes them uneasy. Resultantly, they stop going out. In every house, there are small kids or elderlies or both sometimes or other they have to use the lift all alone. In such cases, if the lift stuck or anything such happens, will imprint on their minds forever which will turn into a phobia. The Lift Act is already late and should be amended soon.”
Rashmi Panday, President, of Gautam Budh Vikas Samiti says, “There is no MLA left of Gautam Budh Nagar to whom we have not given the letter. We hand over our letter demanding the Lifts Act to MP Mahesh Sharma, MLA Pankaj Singh, and MLA Tejpal Nagar. Sent to CM Yogi Adityanath, and also to the PMO. Joint Secretary Bhaskar Pande was appointed to do it promptly.
She continues, ” Later Public Work Department’s Jitendra Prasad got this draft ready in 2018, but it was ready but not presented in Vidhansabha. Later, Pankaj Singh took this matter to Vidhanasbha, to which CM Yogi Adityanath agreed. No authority tried to help us. We met the CEO of all the authorities but our grievances are as to as.”
Neelam Yadav, Activist and Advocate in High Court says, “By ignoring the Lift Act, the government is violating Article 21 of our fundamental rights. Under this, all the people of the country have the right to live within legal limits. Today’s circumstances have become such that while entering the lift, I feel that perhaps this is my last journey. After all, what is the reason, almost two years have passed since the instructions were given to the government, and even after that the administration is sleeping.”
she continues, ” Now there is news of accidents in lifts every day and many lives have also been lost in the accidents. The fear of the lift that that innocent little girl in Lucknow had yesterday will never go away from my head. If something had happened to that girl, who would have been responsible? After continuous efforts of the members of the Gautam Buddha Nagar Development Committee, the UP government has passed the order. This Act has been implemented in 21 states and why is it taking so much time to implement the instructions of the UP government in Uttar Pradesh?”
we tried connecting MLA Pankaj Singh and MLA Dhirendra, but both were travelling and unreachble.