At least three families from the JJ cluster in northeast Delhi’s Gokalpuri, including two from which seven people died on Saturday, were in the midst wedding preparations when the fire ravaged through their homes and residents scampered through a narrow exit route to escape the blaze. Nearly 150 people were left without a roof over their heads, with no change of clothes and some without even any footwear.
Several people claimed they lost cash, jewellery and other items, such as television sets, air coolers, utensils and sewing machines, that they had arranged in the last five-seven years from their meagre incomes.
For Santo (58), the grandfather of two children — Roshan (13) and Deepika (9) — who died on Saturday, the fire also wiped away around ₹2 lakh saved for the wedding of his daughter Rubi’s wedding.
“Rubi and my wife Sheela had recently gone to our native village in Unnao, where the wedding was planned. We had kept the cash to buy jewellery and make other arrangements for the wedding. Now everything is gone and we have no money left. Only God knows how my daughter’s wedding will happen,” said Santo.
The family of the five victims — Bablu (32), his son Shahanshah (12), and two siblings, Ranjeet (22), and Reshma (18), and pregnant sister-in-law, Priyanka (21) — was also preparing for a wedding, said a relative.
Bablu’s sister, Ravina, said, “We had made all the preparations for the wedding of my sister, Reshma. But now that she is dead, we don’t even know what to tell her would be in-laws. We were so excited about the wedding but the fire has turned our happiness into sorrow…”
Roshni (20) and her sister Chandni (18), also from the same JJ cluster, were supposed to get married after Holi. Their grandparents – Chhoti (60), and Matru (62), both ragpickers — had purchased jewellery and other articles needed for the wedding using their little savings.
“The mother of Roshni and Chandni died when they were only five and seven years old. Their father is jobless and is suffering from many ailments. The responsibility of the entire family is on my husband and me. Our average daily earning is between ₹100 and ₹200. We paid ₹1,000 per month as rent for our jhuggi. For the last five-seven years, we had been saving money for the wedding. Apart from the items purchased, ₹65,000 cash was also kept in the house for the wedding. The blaze claimed everything we had. We don’t know how the wedding will be held,” said Chhoti.
150 left homeless
Saturday’s fire left nearly 150 residents homeless and at the mercy of others for food and water on Saturday.
Many said they were left with no change of clothes and some were even barefoot as the fire, which gutted over 30 shanties, also ravaged their belongings, including jewellery and other valuables. A few claimed they also lost their cell phones as they rushed out of the jhuggis after seeing the blaze.
Fighting away tears on Saturday afternoon, many guarded the bare bone remains of their homes in an effort to salvage their belongings lost in the fire.
Single exit route
Many residents said they were sleeping when the fire broke out and quickly spread through the shanties. Amid the panic, people rushed out through a narrow lane — the only exit route — which had several obstacles in the form parked bicycles and tricycles.
“There was fire everywhere and all I could hear was people screaming for help… I quickly took my wife and children out of the jhuggi and rushed towards the exit lane. Our neighbours were jostling with each other in a bid to rush out. Some fell in the lane and were hurt. Some neighbours wanted to return to save their loved ones and their belongings, but we stopped them from going inside,” said Babu, whose jhuggi was also gutted in the fire.
Apart from the shanties, a machine parts manufacturing unit, a scrap shop filled with cardboards and a godown with tyres and tubes were also gutted in the blaze. “Machines worth around ₹6 lakh were damaged due to the blaze,” said the unit’s owner, Ashok Kumar.
