Around 100 jhuggies were gutted after a major fire broke out in South Delhi's Jamia Nagar area on Tuesday afternoon. The locals alleged that the fire department turned up an hour later, by when the damage was already done. Other than minor injuries, no casualties were reported from the incident, police said.
Around 100 jhuggies were gutted after a major fire broke out in South Delhi's Jamia Nagar area on Tuesday afternoon. The locals alleged that the fire department turned up an hour later, by when the damage was already done. Other than minor injuries, no casualties were reported from the incident, police said.
According to a senior fire official, they received a call from a local resident at around 11:43 am, who said that a house constructed of plastic had caught fire because of a spark that flew from a pole nearby. Five fire tenders and a rescue team were sent to the spot and they brought the fire control after three hours. However, by then around 100 clusters had been gutted.
"Sparks flew from the pole next to my house at around 11 am," said 45-year-old Jannat Rama, who works as a house maid. "And within seconds, the plastic of my house started burning. All the items had burned down. We also threw water on the fire to douse it but it did not help. Later, it spread to more houses."
The fire created much chaos as people panicked – 47-year-old Mohammed Khalid slipped along with his two children while trying to escape to a safe place. They sustained minor agencies.
Some locals have complained that the fire officials reached the spot late and till then the damage was already done. "The call was made around 11:30 am," said 22-year-old Inzamaam, a rickshaw puller, "but they reached the spot at around 12:30 pm. Till then, more than 100 clusters had caught fire. The locals did not have time to save their belongings."
The place was later inspected by the MLA from Okhla constituency, Amanathullah Khan. "We have taken down the names of all the families living in the slum," Amanathullah said. "Temporary tents will be created for them until the slum is reconstructed. We are trying to provide all the basic necessities such as food and shelter to the victims. We are working towards the compensation for the affected families."
According to a senior police officer, there is no written complaint so far and the accident appears to been caused naturally. "So there will be no investigation in the case until we get some complaint from any family," he said.
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