Nearly 240 shanties were destroyed in a fire that broke out in Sarfabad village in Noida Sector 73 on Friday morning on two adjacent plots, the police said. One of the plots belong to the younger brother of former politician and mafia don D.P. Yadav, they said.
At least two persons sustained injuries, while 237 families have been displaced after the incident.
There were conflicting accounts on what started the fire. While the police suspect the reason was camp fire lit by dwellers, occupants suspect foul play. Some have claimed that the blaze started outside one of the shanties around 2.45 a.m.
The fire left Monirul Dafadar (30) and his six-year-old son Sanil Dafadar, both from West Bengal, with serious burn injuries on their backs, besides destroying goods worth lakhs of rupees.
Some residents said that the blaze started near one of the shanties situated in a corner of the colony and soon spread across the area. They said that the fire tenders reached the spot by 4 a.m., an hour after a call was made. By then, they said, the fire had engulfed the entire slum.
Stacks of scrap
“The fire broke out at the shanty of Norzul, a scrap dealer, who is currently in West Bengal. His house was locked. It spread across all the shanties. Over 1,000 people were rushed to a nearby under-construction building, but some later rushed to their shanties to collect their belongings. We had huge stacks of scrap, including plastic and glass bottles and other waste kept in the dwellings that were destroyed,” said Arbaaz Khan, a scrap dealer in the makeshift colony.
The police said that at least 22 fire tenders were sent to the spot to douse the fire. “We were informed around 3.15 a.m. regarding a fire in the shanties in Sarfabad. All fire tenders of the district were sent to the spot immediately and the fire was doused by 6 a.m. Barring two persons, no one was critically injured in the accident the cause of which remains unknown,” said Shwetabh Pandey, Circle Officer 3, Noida police.
The makeshift colony, which came up eight years ago, is located in the midst of high-rises at the end of Sarfabad village. Situated almost a km away from the main road in Sector 76, the shanties are connected by a service road.
Arbaaz also said that the land belongs to one Dharamveer Yadav from Sarfabad village who has rented it out to him. The men residing in the dwellings are involved in scrap business whereas the women work as house helps in the high-rises.
The district administration said that they have begun a survey to find out the number of families affected in the incident in order to initiate the process of compensation and rehabilitation.
““Compensation money will be credited to the bank accounts of families which have Aadhaar cards or other required documents. Around 250 families were living in the shanties. We have initiated distribution of quilts and food,” said Anjani Kumar, SDM, Gautam Budh Nagar. However, residents of the shanties say that they have lost all their documents in the fire.
