Even before the fire in Vivekanand Camp was completely doused, the rift among two sets of dwellers came to the fore with one blaming the other for the accident. As many as 70 shanties were gutted in the fire on Wednesday. The Bengali migrants, most of whom are ragpickers, were blamed by others.
“For the past many years, we have been asking the ragpickers to move out but they never do. We have even asked the authorities to resettle them somewhere else. It is because of the combustible material they keep everywhere that even a minor fire assumes such a magnitude,” said Raju, who works as a construction labourer.
This, blame-game was on, even though a majority of the houses gutted belonged to the ragpickers.
Most inhabitants of the slum, which is surrounded by diplomatic missions, are migrants from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal.
While the Delhi Fire Service said the cause of the fire was yet to be ascertained, most people present at the spot said it started because of a cylinder blast.
Those who lost their homes seemed worried about the compensation they were to receive, if any. Many said they were apprehensive as they did not have Aadhar cards on the basis of which their entitlement to a compensation would be decided.
Some others, especially women, who found out about the fire after returning from work, were seen crying hysterically.
