Slum dwellers had a close shave

New Delhi: Hours before dawn, 40-year-old Prabha woke up to the sound of what she thought were crackers. But as she went out to check this "pre-Diwali celebration", she found a raging fire. Prabha, along with her children, rushed to a nearby park as the fire took hold. And on Monday, 15 years after she lost her husband, Prabha lost all her savings and belongings too.
She was among 1,000 other residents of the jhuggis at TU Block, Mangolpuri, who had a close shave early on Monday. For the past 20 years, she lived in the area and worked as a domestic help to sustain her family of four. "I had bought a cooler and a fridge, both second hand, but they were gutted. We are neither left with a single cloth nor a utensil. We have to start all over again," she said with tears in her eyes.
Sitting on a heap of ashes, all that Sushila (40), had to show was a vacant area where her house once was. "Till last night, I had my house there. We are left with nothing now. I had to borrow three bottles to store drinking water," she said.
Pointing towards the government officials present there, she said, "All these people have provided us with bamboos to rebuild our houses," but asked, "Why can't we be given a pukka house to avoid such incidents in future." A half-burnt Rs 500 note was all she was left with. "Apart from losing my belongings, I have lost all my money too," she said.
One of the victims, Satish (35), said he sustained injuries while rescuing his children. "The fire spread quickly with very little time to rescue my kids. We all ran towards the park," he said.
By Monday morning, these jhuggies were reduced to ashes with the slum dwellers struggling to identify their valuables left, if any.