Tennis ace Leander Paes is a worried man following the horrific Stephen Court fire as his
mother Jennifer lives at Queens Mansion, just beside the ill-fated building, where a similar tragedy can strike any time.
After hearing about the Park Street inferno, the Indian tennis star, who is currently playing in Miami, called up her mom on Wednesday and asked her to move to a 'safe place' if she feels really worried.
"Obviously he was very worried about me. He said if I did not feel safe here, I should move to some other place. I am giving it a serious thought," Jennifer, a former captain of Indian basketball team, told PTI.
Jennifer, who lives alone on the third floor on block III of the five-storeyed building, said blocks I, III, IV and V relly cried for an urgent repair.
"The building is in a very dilapidated state. It is owned by LIC and we have written to them about the potential hazard similar to that of Stephen Court, but they are yet to lend ears to it," she rued.
"There are naked, loose wires forming a thick mesh near the stairs. Meter boxes and switch boxes are open. There is only one escape root and similar to Stephen Court the entrance to the terrace is locked. Earlier there was a spiral staircase but it has been removed by the owners," she said.
Even the elevators are not properly maintained, she added.
"I was trapped inside the lift on Saturday and the caretaker said he couldn't do a thing about it. I was hyper-ventilating and kept punching the buttons. Every time I pushed the second floor button, the lift inched down a little.
"I was afraid that it might crash. When it finally reached the second floor, I just got out and ran," she recalled.
On measures about firefighting, she said there are only a few small fire extinguishing units, but nobody knows whether they work or not.
Jennifer is a resident of the Queens Mansion for the last 29 years.