New Delhi: As Wednesday’s fire at Malviya Nagar’s Flourish Stays B&B was contained, its owner’s other hotel—Flourish Inn, only 200 metres away—was being quietly vacated. Described as the “perfect stay for medical tourism”, several foreigners were moved out and escorted to hotels in nearby neighbourhoods.
The guests were asked to vacate rooms after Lovkesh Bajaj’s first property went up in flames Wednesday morning, killing 21 people and injuring 37. Many among those killed and injured were foreign nationals. Lovkesh was arrested Wednesday evening after a 12-hour manhunt.
According to police officers, all the guests staying at the hotel were individuals availing medical treatment from Max Hospital, Saket, which is about 300 m away from the property.
The serpentine road that runs more or less parallel to Press Enclave features hotels, B&Bs, and inns that have quietly replaced the properties usually rented by families and working professionals. Some hotels on this road are decades old, but the area has seen a rising number of commercial properties catering primarily to patients at the nearby private superspeciality Max Hospital. Several foreign nationals referred to the hospital for a liver transplant are among those staying in this area, called Hauz Rani.
Max is the keyword. The websites of some of these establishments display pictures of the hospital prominently, sometimes even more so than images of their own rooms or facilities.
Narrow roads lead to buildings that share walls. Most house medical stores on their ground floors. Some buildings also have small eateries that cater to visitors from various countries, mainly Afghanistan, Nigeria, Yemen, Ethiopia and Myanmar.
Nadeem Ahmed, a broker working out of Hauz Rani, told ThePrint that while the area was affordable for young professionals, owners now prefer to give their houses to those who come for treatment at hospitals nearby. “If you rent out a two- or three-bedroom house you can earn Rs 13,000- Rs. 15,000, but renting out to foreign nationals gives twice that,” Ahmed told ThePrint.
Loading suitcases on a wooden cart outside Flourish Inn, Keaerlaimbert stood with a bunch of documents. He had reached Malviya Nagar three months ago from the Philippines for a liver transplant. “The doctor in my country told me that I should come to Delhi for a liver transplant. He then connected me to doctors here in Max Hospital, who then directed me further,” said Keaerlaimbert.
Following his doctor’s instructions, Keaerlaimbert reached Malviya Nagar, where he struggled to communicate with the locals. “Someone at the hospital brought me to this hotel, he spoke to the manager and informed them that I needed a room for a few months,” said Keaerlaimbert. He told ThePrint that his room was small and lacked ventilation, but he didn’t panic until Wednesday morning when he saw a hotel in the same lane go up in flames. “I was in the hospital when the incident happened. Around 1 pm, I got a call from my hotel and was informed that they have made an alternative arrangement, and I am expected to move,” he said.
A few steps away, Chumeko stood under a web of electric cables. Four of her ageing uncles and aunts stood next to her, visibly alarmed by the fire that had broken out less than 200 metres away in a property owned by the same owner as theirs.
Trying to hail an auto-rickshaw to reach a nearby hotel, they were trying hard to communicate with those that stopped. Chumeko and her relatives are from Myanmar, where their local doctor had recommended Max Hospital in Saket for a liver transplant. “It is a very pricey affair in Myanmar, and getting a donor is an uphill task,” said Chumeko. The 32-year-old had arrived in Delhi only 20 days ago, booking two rooms at Flourish Inn for the next three months. “The doctor at Max connected us to a man who helped to get us a room here after my aunt’s medical treatment began,” she told ThePrint.
Meanwhile, Nigerian national Naja expressed dissatisfaction over having to take her wheelchair-bound husband through the broken roads of Hauz Rani. “We were told by the local broker that this area was safe to stay, but now there has been a fire and the hotel owner has asked us to move out,” Naja told ThePrint. “The hotels have the same names and the same architecture, if the fire had started here we would have all died,” she said while pushing her husband’s wheelchair.
The Nigerian family has been living in the Flourish Inn for the past few months during which Naja’s husband has undergone a liver transplant and been in post-operative care.
(Edited by Nardeep Singh Dahiya)