New Delhi: A massive fire tore through the Mansa Ram Park shanties in southwest Delhi’s Uttam Nagar on Wednesday night, gutting about 300-400 jhuggis. Firefighting went on till nearly 3am on Thursday. Delhi Fire Service and Bindapur police station got calls about the blaze at 11.57 pm on Wednesday, after which 28 fire tenders and nearly 100 firefighters were sent to the spot. Nearly 1,200 residents of the settlement, which hou-sed about 80 scrap godowns, fled their homes as the flam-es spread. No deaths have been reported. In one case, head constable Ram Rattan of the PCR unit broke open the window of a car fitted with a CNG kit that was parked close to the fire and moved it away. Police said that around 400-500 jhuggis in the settlement were saved in the operation.Police said a probe is under way to ascertain the cau-se of the blaze. On March 7, a fire broke out in the same cluster, following which a case under section 326 (mischief by injury, inundation, fire or explosive substance) of the BNS was registered at Bindapur police station. Residents have alleged foul play regarding the blaze on Wednesday night.On Thursday morning, people roamed amid the charred remains, trying to fi-nd whatever remained of their belongings. Scrap dealer Manish (28) carefully steered his scooter through the burnt settlement with his nephew Niketan (10) and Niketan’s friend Sahil (10) seated behind him. He was dropping them off to school for their exams. The scooter was among the few things he managed to save after loading it onto his brother’s hand-rickshaw at night. Manish’s brother, Rajneesh Mahto (36), said they are considering returning to their village in Bihar, a move that could end Niketan’s English-medium schooling.Sunita Devi (30) sat beneath what remained of a tree near the ruins of her home. “My six-year-old daughter Riya got injured when a brick fell on her during a collapse caused by the fire,” she said. Many others also suffered minor injuries, she said. Several animals died in the blaze. Several vehicles and hand-rickshaws were gutted. Rita Devi (35) said two of her husband’s rickshaws were destroyed in the fire along with the textbooks of her 14-year-old son, Pawan. “We left Bihar nearly two decades ago, hoping to earn a better living here. Now everything is gone. Where will we go?” she said.Residents claimed that MCD had asked them to vaca-te the plot. Police said the revenue department records show the land is privately owned and is in the middle of an ownership dispute. TOI reached out to MCD for a response on the status of the plot, but no reply came till the time of publication.Police said there had been repeated complaints about illegal garbage dumping and garbage being set on fire in the area. Govt had reporte-dly scheduled a debris removal drive for March 7 at the site, but it was postponed due to logistical issues. Siya Ram Mahto (23), who suffered minor burns, said. “We had started preparing to move out after instructions from the authorities. If we had six more months, we could have left this settlement. Now, we have lost even the little money we had.” His friend Nitish (36) added that the fire has also threatened their livelihoods. “We collect scrap for a living. If we do not report to work, we do not get paid. My employer said he does not care about the fire and will replace me,” he said.
