New Delhi: A fire gutted around 200 sheds used as accommodation for migrant labourers at a construction camp near Nirman Bhavan and Udyog Bhavan in central Delhi in the early hours of Wednesday, leaving hundreds displaced. No casualties were reported.Delhi Fire Service (DFS) received a call at 3.02am about the fire that allegedly started in an electrical panel inside an unit. DFS sent 20 fire tenders and over 100 firefighters to the spot. Officials said the blaze was brought under control after nearly three hours around 6.05am.Fire officials said the flames spread rapidly due to the presence of multiple LPG cylinders inside the camp. Standing near India Gate hours after the incident, 23-year-old Vikas Kumar from Bihar said, “The cylinders kept exploding one after another. The repeated loud sounds felt like bomb blasts.” Labourers said they noticed sparks around 2.30am and immediately ran towards the gardens near India Gate for safety.Workers from Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh had been engaged through local contractors for a project being executed through a joint venture involving the housing and urban affairs ministry, Central Public Works Department and a public-sector construction company. The construction work has been temporarily suspended following the fire, while affected workers have been provided temporary accommodation, food and clothing.Having lost their belongings in the blaze, several are weighing whether to return home. “My father is asking me to come back,” said Deepak Chauhan, a 20-year-old from Bihar. “I want to continue working, but right now we are unsure about what will happen.”Workers told TOI that the camp consisted of multi-storey container-like accommodation blocks shared by at least 500 to 600 migrants. Nearly two-thirds of the settlement lies charred, they claimed. Migrant labourers remained in touch with their contractors to understand the next step.“Most people ran out with whatever they could carry,” said 50-year-old Samasuddin Ansari from Jharkhand. Workers claimed that electrical overloading was not uncommon in the accommodation blocks, some of which housed up to 20 labourers.
