20 huts, 15 godowns gutted in Sahibabad slum cluster
Abhijay Jha | TNN | Jan 29, 2019, 07:53 IST
The illegal settlement has mostly migrant labourers, sources saidGhaziabad: A major fire broke out in a slum cluster in Sahibabad’s Defence Colony on Monday. Though there were no casualties, two dozen hutments and nearly 15 godowns that used to store plastic and other material were gutted.
“At 1.45pm, we received a call that a fire has broken out in a slum cluster in Bhopura. We immediately dispatched four fire tenders to the spot,” said chief fire officer Sunil Kumar Singh.
He said owing to strong winds, it had become difficult to control the blaze.
“We sought one fire tender from Noida and another from Bhushan Steel. Nine fire tenders took two hours to douse the fire,” he added.
The officer said, “Prima facie, it looks that fire started when some residents were cooking near the godowns that stored inflammable materials.”
A resident, Savita Devi, said she was in the slum when the fire broke out.
“I heard about seven LPG cylinders blast. Debris had fallen over the shanties. I, along with my family, moved out to safety,” said Devi.
Sandeep, another resident, said: “This is the fourth such incident in the recent past. There are about 100 shanties in the area, spread over an acre of land. The landowner — Mukhiya—had built tin shades and we pay him a monthly rent.”
The slum is mostly inhabited by migrant labourers from Bihar and Bengal, who are ragpickers. “Trash like plastic, wood and other material are stored in godowns that aggravated the fire,” said circle officer (Sahibabad) R K Mishra. He said it was an illegal settlement. “We are trying to ascertain the identity of the owner. We have been informed that he is a resident of Bhopura village,” he added.
“At 1.45pm, we received a call that a fire has broken out in a slum cluster in Bhopura. We immediately dispatched four fire tenders to the spot,” said chief fire officer Sunil Kumar Singh.
He said owing to strong winds, it had become difficult to control the blaze.
“We sought one fire tender from Noida and another from Bhushan Steel. Nine fire tenders took two hours to douse the fire,” he added.
The officer said, “Prima facie, it looks that fire started when some residents were cooking near the godowns that stored inflammable materials.”
A resident, Savita Devi, said she was in the slum when the fire broke out.
“I heard about seven LPG cylinders blast. Debris had fallen over the shanties. I, along with my family, moved out to safety,” said Devi.
Sandeep, another resident, said: “This is the fourth such incident in the recent past. There are about 100 shanties in the area, spread over an acre of land. The landowner — Mukhiya—had built tin shades and we pay him a monthly rent.”
The slum is mostly inhabited by migrant labourers from Bihar and Bengal, who are ragpickers. “Trash like plastic, wood and other material are stored in godowns that aggravated the fire,” said circle officer (Sahibabad) R K Mishra. He said it was an illegal settlement. “We are trying to ascertain the identity of the owner. We have been informed that he is a resident of Bhopura village,” he added.
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