Amy Harris reminds area residents of what happened to the Abhiruchi Indian Cuisine restaurant

Amy Harris
Clark County Matters

Earlier this year, a devastating fire shut down Abhiruchi Indian Cuisine — a beloved, family-owned restaurant at one of Vancouver’s busiest intersections, Chkalov and Mill Plain. The fire didn’t start in the kitchen; it was sparked by a homeless individual who had been loitering near the restaurant daily. Despite multiple complaints and requests for help from neighboring businesses, the city failed to take any action.

Despite multiple requests for help, the city failed to intervene. Then, the worst happened: a fire spread from outside and severely damaged the building.

Abhiruchi opened in 2011 and was the longest-standing tenant in that location. The owners, Kameswara Rao and his brother-in-law Gurunath, now receive 28 to 30 phone calls a day from loyal customers wondering when they’ll reopen. The restaurant employed 10 people — all now out of work. And while the city delays and downplays its role, a hardworking immigrant family has lost its livelihood.

The media in Southwest Washington has barely covered this story. But what happened to Abhiruchi underscores something much bigger: when elected officials confuse tolerance of lawlessness with compassion, the result isn’t policy disagreement — it’s direct harm to real people and small businesses.

The impact of unchecked street camping, open drug use, and public safety breakdowns isn’t theoretical. It shows up in closed storefronts, ruined neighborhoods, and shattered lives.

Clark County residents aren’t heartless — but they are tired of being told that compassion and public safety are mutually exclusive. We can care for vulnerable people without abandoning those who are trying to build a future here.

Vancouver doesn’t need to become Portland to prove it has empathy. Let’s make sure what happened to Abhiruchi never happens to another local business again.

---

Also read:

• 
  Opinion: IBR’s evasive, misleading and dishonest excuses for higher cost
  Joe Cortright argues the Interstate Bridge Replacement Program has withheld detailed cost estimates while offering contradictory explanations for rising costs tied to the I-5 Bridge project.
• 
  Opinion: The limits for drug-impaired driving
  Target Zero Manager Doug Dahl explains how Washington law defines drug-impaired driving and how officers are trained to recognize impairment beyond alcohol limits.
• 
  Opinion: ‘Please make your voice heard by taking my legislative priorities survey’
  Rep. John Ley invites Clark County residents to share their views by participating in a legislative priorities survey during the 2026 session.
• 
  POLL: Do the proposed changes to the Clark County Council’s Rules of Procedure suggest the council lacked authority in 2025?
  A new reader poll asks whether proposed changes to the Clark County Council’s Rules of Procedure indicate the council lacked clear authority during a 2025 board removal.
• 
  Letter: ‘HSD needs to give a detailed line-item accounting of where the last levy went, and of how they plan to use this one’
  Randall Schultz-Rathbun urges Hockinson School District to provide detailed, transparent accounting of past and proposed levy spending before asking voters for additional funds.