A major fire broke out in slum clusters of Dwarka Sector-3 area following which 20 fire tenders were pressed into service which took one and half hour to douse the flames. “The fire was caused due to short-circuit in one of the garbage godowns of the slum area, however, no casualty was reported,” said deputy commissioner (South-west district). Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced compensation of Rs25,000 to each victim family.
“The fire gutted around 150 houses in slum cluster,” said AAP MlA from Matiala, Gulab Singh. According to fire officials, the slum area in Matiala has over 100 tenements. “We received a call at 10.08 am about the fire in slum cluster area near Matiala. Twenty fire tenders were rushed to the spot and the fire could be controlled by 11.30 am,” a fire official said.
A senior Delhi Government officer said, “Immediate relief action has been started as number of people have gone homeless after this fire. We are building sufficient number of tents for people and water tanks are made available to people.” “We have ordered food for around 600 people and that will be made available to them around 6-7 pm in the evening,” officer added.
Meanwhile, the residents of the slum clusters seemed unhappy with the relief programme as they reiterated that food and water for only a day won’t help them. A local rag picker, Chandan, whose slum was gutted said, “Only clothes that we are wearing are left, everything else has damaged including our voter-ID cards and Aadhar Cards.” “At least Rs.25000 should be given to each victim,” added he.
“The men were out for work at 5 am and usually return by 2 pm in the afternoon…Only women and kids were present in the slum when fire broke out but luckily none of them got injured,” said 25-year-old Pinky.
Meanwhile, MlA Singh said he had always appealed to lieutenant-Governor to rehabilitate these people as the land on which they are living is illegal. “I have written letters to l-G to take a call on this land encroachment but no result came out,” said Singh. he added private land owner Jai Kishan financially exploit these slum dwellers as he charges Rs 2,000-Rs5,000 for one plot.