Tower of silence Vinay Madhav , TNN, Mar 23, 2010

BANGALORE: A quiet desperation cloaks Carlton Towers, and even the stray dog which would hang out near Bombay Post, listlessly wanders around in the chilling silence.

The building wears a haunted look. Most of the empty fire extinguishers are scattered and shards of glass dot the floors. The only movement is of people trying to retrieve office material. Three policemen keep a bored watch at the front gate; all the other gates are locked.

Ram Nath, one of the three security guards from Assam, says, "We don't know when they'll open the building. Neither have they told us anything nor have they terminated our services. Hardly anybody comes here."

The corridors of each floor are pitch dark as electricity supply has been switched off. There's a memory of footsteps -- not many walk here anymore.

Two employees of Mandanna Associates, a chartered accountant firm, wait patiently in their office. Mandanna, treasurer of the Carlton Owners' Association, was one of three persons to obtain anticipatory bail. His office was burgled soon after the tragedy. "Some people stole three computers. All our data were there. A day after the fire, the firm owner's wife came and locked the door. But somebody broke the lock open. We're worried about reconstructing the data," said an employee Dharmendra.

On the first floor, ophthalmologist Dr Sabina Madan is shifting things out of her clinic whose windows are shattered. "Fire force personnel entered the building through them," she smiled ruefully. She and her husband had set up the clinic 10 years ago. "We're not sure when everything will return to normal. We have another clinic in Whitefield and we're taking things there," she added.

At the entrance, the police are maintaining a registry of visitors. When visitors want to take anything out of their office, they have to show their identity cards and give written statements of what they're taking. "There were complaints that valuables had been stolen from some offices. We have to keep tabs on what goes in and out," said ASI Rudrappa.

Life goes on elsewhere in the city. Not at Carlton Towers.