Festive atmosphere gave way to graveyard silence

Twenty-four hours ago, the Sharmas household on the third floor of the ill-fated B-block house had a festive atmosphere. Savita Sharma’s son was to get married next week and had left for Vaishno Devi a night before the house came crashing down.

Twenty-four hours ago, the Sharmas household on the third floor of the ill-fated B-block house had a festive atmosphere. Savita Sharma’s son was to get married next week and had left for Vaishno Devi a night before the house came crashing down.

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That day, he got a phone call at the shrine informing him that his mother had been crushed to death in the building collapse. “His family had been preparing for his wedding with full gusto. He was in Jammu when he got to know about the incident,” said his neighbour.

Savita Sharma’s husband Ramesh, who runs a private company in Uttam Nagar, had recently sold the second floor of the house. “The Sharmas were living on the third floor and had recently sold the second floor of the house,” the neighbour added.

Savita was taken to the nearby Mata Chanan Devi Hospital where she was declared brought dead.

On the day of the incident, Savita had asked her husband to speak to talk to the owner of the Metro restaurant, as cracks had appeared in their building due to ongoing digging work there.