A massive fire broke out in Delhi’s Dwarka Mor area in the early hours of Tuesday, gutting at least 30 shanties, two factories, and several shops, officials from the Delhi Fire Services (DFS) said. Fortunately, no casualties were reported.
The fire department received a distress call at 2:07 am, following which 11 fire tenders were rushed to the spot. “The blaze had spread across an area of over 1,200 square yards,” a DFS official stated. It took nearly two hours to bring the fire under control, and it was fully doused by 3:50 am.
Among the damaged properties were makeshift ice cream factories, car accessory shops, and grocery stores. As the flames reduced homes and livelihoods to ashes, slum dwellers were later seen searching through the remains for any salvageable belongings.
Sashi Devi, one of the affected residents, said, “There are around 150 shanties here, and most of us work in factories or sell ice cream for a living. We earn barely Rs 150 to Rs 300 a day. The fire spread so fast that we couldn’t save anything.”
Another resident, Guriya, recalled how she first noticed smoke coming from an ice cream factory around 2 AM. “I quickly alerted my neighbours, and we all ran out. The fire spread too fast for us to take anything with us,” she said.
Sushila, a grocery shop owner, shared her distress, saying, “We were all asleep when the fire started. We barely managed to escape. Now, we have no home and nothing to eat.”
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Many victims also lost crucial documents, such as Aadhaar cards and ID proofs, and are now seeking government assistance for their re-issuance. Parents expressed concerns over their children’s education, as schoolbooks and study materials were reduced to ashes.
Summing up the tragedy, Harikesh Kumar said, “We survived, but everything we owned is gone.”
(With inputs from PTI)
