Historical Old London House in Nainital, the death of the famous historian’s sister

The elderly woman died in a scorching fire in a heritage building in Nainital, Uttarakhand. According to the police, the woman who lost her life in the incident was the sister of famous historian and environmentalist Dr. Ajay Rawat. The fire broke out in a building named Old London House in Mallital area on Wednesday night. The team of several agencies, including the fire brigade, could control the fire around 2 pm after hard work. More than 40 personnel of three departments were engaged in rescue operations to save the lives of the people trapped in the building.

Dr. Rawat said that his sister Shanta Bisht has died in the fire. She was 82 years old. Shanta’s son Nikhil is safe. According to Vinod Kumar Verma, who runs a mobile phone shop near the building, he saw smoke coming out at around 10 pm, soon after the flames started appearing.

There was chaos after the incident

He immediately informed the fire department after which a vehicle of the fire department reached the spot and tried to extinguish the fire. However, the water of his tank soon ended after which he was sent back to fill the water again. After the incident, there was chaos, people were seen leaving the building and running around. The fire was controlled at around 1 pm.

The building was built in 1863

The Old London House building was built in 1863, when Nainital was developed as the summer capital of the United Province. At that time many magnificent buildings were built here and it was also built in the same period. The building was the residence of Professor Ajay Rawat’s sisters Kamalata Rawat and Shanta Bisht. Kamalata Rawat retired here as the Principal of Mohan Lal Shah Balika Vidyalaya. He also died in the fire in 2020.

Nikhil kept shouting to save mother

During the fire on Wednesday night, Nikhil Bisht, son of the deceased woman, shouted helpless to save his mother and then fainted. Nikhil Bisht has worked as an art director in many Hindi films including ‘Barfi’ and he was coming to Nainital to take care of his elderly mother.

(Report- Bhupendra Rawat)