At least 30 shanties, two factories gutted in blaze

NEW DELHI: At least 30 shanties, two factories and some shops were gutted in a massive fire that broke out in the Dwarka Mor area here in the early hours of Tuesday, Delhi Fire Services (DFS) officials said. No one was injured in the incident.

“We received a call about the fire at 2:07 am, and 11 fire tenders were dispatched immediately. The blaze had spread across an area of more than 1,200 square yards,” a DFS official said. He said 30 shanties, two makeshift ice cream factories and car accessories and grocery shops were

destroyed in the fire.

The fire was brought under control by 3:50 am. No one was injured in the incident, the official said. After the fire was doused, slum dwellers who lost their huts were seen checking their utensils and other belongings.

“There are around 150 shanties here. All the residents are labourers and work in different factories to earn daily wages. We hardly earn Rs 150 to Rs 300 a day by selling ice creams and working at other locations. We could not take our belongings from the fire site as it spread quickly,” said Sashi Devi.

Another woman, Guriya, said, “It was around 2 am when I noticed smoke coming from one of the ice cream factories. I immediately asked my neighbours to vacate the shanties as the fire was spreading very fast.”

Sushila, who sells groceries, said that everyone was sleeping when they noticed the fire.

“We hardly had time to take our belongings with us. Now, we don’t even have a house to sleep in properly. We have nothing left to eat,” Sushila said.

Some of the victims said that their documents, such as Aadhar cards and other ID proofs, were burnt, and now they needed government assistance to get them reissued.

A few dwellers also expressed concern about their children’s education, as their school books were destroyed in the fire. Harikesh Kumar said, “Insaan to bach gaye, par humare ghar ka sab kuch jal ke raakh ho gaya” (the people survived, but everything in our house was burned to ashes).