Noida: Good Samaritans come forward to help Bahlolpur fire survivors

NOIDA: After a major fire gutted over 150-odd shanties at Bahlolpur village in Sector 63, residents from across Noida have come forward to help the survivors

NOIDA: After a major fire gutted over 150-odd shanties at Bahlolpur village in Sector 63, residents from across Noida have come forward to help the survivors.

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Those who were living in the slum have lost most of their belongings in the blaze, in which two children were killed. As per officials, as many as 166 families have been affected by the fire. Many have lost their means of livelihood as well.

Residents said they have come together and with the help of local NGOs and have made donations for the survivors.

Nisha Rai, secretary of Sector 7x Zone, Noida Federation of Apartment Owners’ Association (NOFAA) said that residents were mobilised through WhatsApp to come forward and help the survivors.

“Keeping in mind the pandemic, we did not go to the spot ourselves but reached out to a resident of the village, who coordinated with us to get the donations delivered to those affected by the fire,” said Rai.

It was Sonu Yadav, a resident of Bahlolpur village, who acted as coordinator.

“I have been receiving numerous calls from residents all across the city, who want to help. I have been travelling from residential apartments back to the fire site to collect donations and then distribute them among the survivors,” he said.

Apart from clothes and ration, the survivors say they have also lost all their documents in the fire.

“Most of us have lost our Ration Cards and Aadhaar Cards in the fire. I had recently got them made and had to forgo one day’s salary for the work. I mentioned this to one of the people who were distributing utensils to us and they have offered to help us arrange for new copies of the documents,” said Miltu, a survivor. He informed that some survivors are now staying at the Hanuman temple in Chijjarsi.

Sector 52 resident Ashok Srivastava said he and other residents of Noida that he knows will help the slum dwellers. “They have informed us about the issue of documents being lost. We have spoken to administrative authorities to help them retrieve their documents such as Aadhaar and Ration cards,” said Srivastava, who runs a congregation of local NGOs in Noida called Active NGOs.

Gautam Buddh Nagar District Magistrate (DM) Suhas LY said that many have lost their passbooks in the fire, for which a camp has been set up by the Sub-Divisional Magistrate to get their bank accounts opened. “All 166 families are being surveyed to identify who needs a new bank account, which will be done by Wednesday. Apart from this, the compensation amount of ₹4 lakh each for the two children, who died in the fire, will also be sanctioned by late Tuesday,” said Suhas.

Sector 50 resident Narendra Chopra, along with a group of five others from Noida, distributed ration, clothes and cooked food among the survivors.

“Our volunteer group called Jan Shakti Seva comprises over 200 residents of the city who are all eager to make donations and help for a social cause. We have received donations from residents including from Sectors like 31, 37, 131, 119 and more,” said Chopra.

Meanwhile, some residents are planning to continue collecting donations through the week. “We have put up boxes in our society club to collect donations and circulated a message in the residents’ WhatsApp group, asking them to donate whatever they can for those affected by the fire in Bahlolpur village,” said Amit Kumar, president of Prateek Wisteria AOA in Sector 77.