In a tragic incident, two persons, including a speech impaired woman were burnt alive after a fire broke out at a makeshift shelter in a destitute home. The incident took place in the early hours of Friday when the home was engulfed in flames either due to a short circuit or a possible cylinder blast. The home is situated in Vasant Kunj South area. By the time fire engines reached the spot, a 27-year-old woman and a 60-year-old man were charred beyond recognition. The severity of the fire could be judged by the fact that their bodies were reduced to cinders. Police requisitioned a team of forensic officials to determine whether there was foul play. No case has been registered yet. Police are awaiting the forensic report.
The Police Control Room (PCR) received a call at 2.40 am regarding a fire breakout at 34 Green Avenue Road. Police officials immediately reached the location and rushed the casualties to the hospital. The deceased have been identified as Poonam, alias Muskaan and Ramesh Chand. Poonam was speech impaired and an amputee who was rescued from Safdarjung Hospital where she was undergoing treatment. Ramesh Chand was mentally challenged and was brought to the centre by his nephew, who is an Inspector in the Narcotics Department in the Delhi Police.
A police official who visited the spot said that bodies were completely charred and were kept at the AIIMS mortuary. An NGO runs the home in the name of The Earth Saviours Foundation. It houses around 150 people, both senior citizens as well as the mentally challenged. It houses three visually impaired persons as well. The fire department received a call around 2.32 am and nine fire tenders were pressed into service. It took around three hours to douse the flames. The place was completely gutted; the tongues of fire had risen to about 40 feet carbonising the trees nearby. Moreover, the NGO also had sheds of bamboo and plastic for the residents.
The NGO also had a cowshed and a school for students of a nearby village up to Class VIII. The fire brought life to a grinding halt for the NGO, its workers and residents. Stuck in a cubbyhole temporary shed, hundreds of people live there on a daily basis under the scorching heat with little or no sustainable help. While most suffer from some ailment or the other, there are still others who struggle for every square inch of shelter they find. This also includes the elderly who have been abandoned by their family. Speaking to The Pioneer, Ravi Kalra, founder of the centre, revealed that out of the 150 residents, around 25 have gone missing. It appears they might have left the place in panic.
The fire damaged the office of the NGO too since the record files, court order and documents of several rescue operations were burnt to a crisp. “We have incurred a loss of around Rs1 crore due to this mishap. The land belongs to Chaudhary Sukhbir Singh and we had taken it on lease for Rs65,000 per month for a period of five years. The then lieutenant-Governor of Delhi had promised land to us in South Delhi area. That was however, not done and we were forced to shift to Narela for a while until our owner extended our lease,” said Kalra.
A case of negligence has been registered against unknown at the Vasant Kunj (South) Police station in this regard.