Archives turn ashes in J-K shootout fire

The fire in the Press Information Building and the State Information Department last night has destroyed archives preserved over decades, se...

The fire in the Press Information Building and the State Information Department last night has destroyed archives preserved over decades, several irretrievable from documents now. While a journalist from Urdu daily Mashriq and firemen braved the blaze to rescue civilians trapped in neighbouring buildings, several lost their livelihood.

The historical speeches made by former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and former Chief Minister Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah at the accession of Jammu and Kashmir with India, preserved by the film division of the information department, were completely destroyed. Property worth crores was also damaged. Officials took stock of the

damage hours after the two fidayeen were shot dead around early morning.

‘‘The fire destroyed all the historical films dubbed on 30 and 16-mm film rolls. Even the films transferred on video cassettes were destroyed. The loss of these films can never be compensated as these documents can never be retrieved,’’ director (Information) K.B. Jandial said.

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‘‘Several historical speeches filmed by the department, including the speeches of Jawaharlal Nehru and Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah were also lost to the fire,’’ he added. ‘‘Our department also lost equipment worth crores, but the loss of historical films and cassettes can never be compensated.’’

‘‘I was watching the gun battle between militants and security force personnel from a distance. Everyone was running towards safer places. I knew many families, especially belonging to Press personnel, were still trapped in the adjacent buildings as they were unable to move out due to continuous firing. I managed to rescue more than a dozen civilians,’’ said Fayaz Ahmad, a Mashriq employee.

‘‘I lost everything in the fire, all the goods in my shop were destroyed. I couldn’t save any thing due to the heavy gun battle. What will happen to my family now that the shop is gone?’’ said Ghulam Nabi, whose shop was gutted in the fire.

Divisional Fire Officer Abdul Gani Wani put the loss around Rs 3 crore. ‘‘Our firefighters went inside the big press complex and managed to hold back the fire from dozens of offices, residential quarters and more than 25 shops. Things would have been entirely different had other buildings caught fire,’’ he said. ‘‘We pressed 15 to 20 fire extinguishers into service and the rescue operation continued for more than 10 hours.’’