Fire-hit Ambewadi residents worried for future

Many families were scourging through the rubble and ash all day on Friday, desperate to locate anything they could find of their belongings

Mumbai: A day after over 200 hutments in Ambewadi, near the Film City gate, were gutted in a blaze, a pall of gloom hung over the unauthorised slum settlement on Friday. Only a few portions of brick walls and metal sheets were still standing amidst piles of rubble, ash and stumps of burnt trees. Yet, residents were looking through for hours on end to see if they could salvage something.

On Friday, only a few portions of brick walls and metal sheets were still standing amidst piles of rubble, ash and stumps of burnt trees. (Satish Bate/ Hindustan Times)

“Everything that we owned is gone,” said a tearful Meena Sharma. The family had moved into their hutment less than two years ago, on a monthly rent of ₹1,500. Sharma was cooking at home on Thursday evening when she a ‘halla’ (pandemonium) outside.

“We heard many gas cylinders bursting and saw everyone running. So we too ran, leaving behind everything save for the clothes on our back,” she said.

The fire began around 7:30pm, soon became as massive orange blaze against the night sky and raged on for over four hours. Fire brigade officials said it was brought under control by 10.20pm and extinguished by 11:44pm.

On Thursday night, Meena Sharma took shelter in the neighbouring Gokuldham Municipal School, where affected residents were provided temporary accommodation, while her husband Ram Sharma and their children went to a relative’s place nearby.

The family returned on Friday morning to see if anything was left, but could only count their losses – their clothes, children’s books, identity documents and even papers pertaining to Ram’s father’s hutment in Appapada.

“I had struggled a lot to collect the documents as they were required for rehabilitation, and we were due to get a home soon,” said Ram, a carpenter. “Now, even that is gone. I am worried about my children’s future.”

Like the Sharmas, many other families were scourging through the rubble and ash all day on Friday, desperate to locate anything they could find of their belongings, said Kalpesh Kamlakar Bhise from Naata Foundation, a nonprofit, which was helping affected residents.

Police officers also visited the settlement, inside Aarey Colony, on Friday to conduct a panchnama, said Sunil Sharma from XXX, another nonprofit which was helping residents.

As Friday night approached, some residents left for their relatives’ places while others went back to the municipal school, which would continue to accommodate affected residents on humanitarian grounds, said Sanjay Jadhav, assistant commissioner, P south ward.

The cause of the fire had not been identified yet, said a fire official in-charge at the site. “We know that several gas cylinders burst, which made the fire worse. But the cause is still under investigation,” he said.

There were several challenges in the rescue operation on Thursday – reaching the spot was difficult due to narrow roads and traffic, and crowds gathered in large numbers, making the job more difficult, the official mentioned.

“But we managed well and thankfully, there were no casualties,” he said.