Over 500 left homeless as fire at Manesar scrapyard destroys over 100 shanties

Over 500 people were left homeless after a massive fire broke out at in a scrapyard in Sector 6 of IMT Manesar on Monday night, killing a 48-year-old woman and charring over 100 hutments to ashes

Over 500 people were left homeless after a massive fire broke out at in a scrapyard in Sector 6 of IMT Manesar on Monday night, killing a 48-year-old woman and charring over 100 hutments to ashes.

Gurugram, India - April. 26, 2022: People salvage charred belongings from a site were a massive fire erupted in a garbage pile, near Kankrola village in Sector 6, Industrial Model Township (IMT) Manesar, in Gurugram, India, on Tuesday, April 26, 2022. One dead, three injured in the fire incident that gutted many shanties according to the reports. (Photo by Vipin Kumar/ Hindustan Times) (Vipin Kumar/HT PHOTO)

Eyewitnesses said it was heart-wrenching to see the victims running helter-skelter, either to save themselves or the remnants of their belongings.

Shanti Devi (55), a native of Patna in Bihar, was sleeping when the fire broke out. She came out and was shocked to see that the area engulfed in fire. “I went inside and woke up my son and daughter-in-law. We had hidden cash below the bed as we all leave for work in the morning and return late evening. We had to leave behind everything, including the ₹1.5 lakh cash we saved so far, we lost everything in the fire,” she said.

Devi said they desperately started searching for their belongings on Tuesday morning amid a pile of ashes left after her hutment was gutted in the fire. Families were also seen sifting through the remains of their hutments.

Victims said they spend the night struggling to sleep or had to sleep on the road. Some, who had small children, were moved to Kakrola village early Tuesday by the administration.

Fifty-year-old Shakuntala Pandey said she had kept money in an iron box in the hut. “My son and I had decided to build a house at our native place in Siwan and were saving money for it. Now, we are not even left with one pair of clothes,” she said. Her son, Sonu, is a ragpicker, while she works as a helper in one of the godowns. Her son’s wedding was scheduled for May 18. The family had taken a loan, the documents of which were also kept in the iron box, all of which was completely burnt.

Same is the story of Babita Devi, who was preparing meals when the fire broke out. “I lived here for the last eight years with my husband and two children. We sold our house in our village as we wanted to buy a small house in Kakrola and had saved around ₹1 lakh. All our savings and important documents were gutted in fire. We are homeless and jobless now,” she said.

Vikas Kumar Paswan, a scrap dealer, said he was sleeping at his shop near a liquor shop. He had received payments and had to shift the scrap on Tuesday morning but both the scraps and the cash were gone in the fire. “I saw something burning near my shop and tried to douse it with water, but the fire started spreading. I was shocked to see the entire area up in flames and people screaming and crying. I had a narrow escape and received minor injuries,” he said.

Victims said their future seems bleak as the fire ate into their houses and belongings. Shamsher Singh, a resident of Rewari, who had three shops in the area, said they were still recovering from the impact of the pandemic. “Just when things started to take a turn for the better, the fire destroyed everything. We have lost everything and it will take at least a year to rebuilt what we had,” he said.

Many victims said that rebuilding their homes would take a few months and until then, they have no place to stay except the temporary accommodation provided by the administration.