Fire in Sector-57 in Ggn guts several shanties, claims one

Gurugram: Perils to the residents in Gurugram's urban slums came to the fore again on Monday after a massive fire broke out in Tigra near Sector-57 area, which houses 200 shanties, and claimed a 12-year-old girl.

The inferno, which erupted around 11.00 am, completely gutted 24 shanties.

In addition to the girl, who reportedly succumbed after sustaining 80 per cent burn injuries, three more people were grievously injured.

The slum comprises of labourers and menial workers.

"All we could see was fire, smoke, chaos and screaming of people. While fire officials were involved in dousing the fire, we tried to make sure that all women and children are escorted to safety," said Rajesh, a local resident.

Sources indicate that the mishap could have been deadlier, if it were not for the efforts of the fire department, in cooperation with local residents, which prevented the fire from spreading.

Though the reasons for the tragedy is yet to be ascertained, it is believed that the bursting of a cylinder caused the fire.

There are also murmurs of the fire being started by the heinous land mafia in the area.

This is not for the first time such a tragedy has occurred in the Millennium City. There have been massive fire reported from the slums of Sikanderpur and Sector-10.

In the Sikanderpur fire, two fire incidents were reported in quick succession. A six-year-old was killed in one of those incidents.

With the growth of population, the number of slums in Gurugram has also increased over the years. Vacant areas and forest land of the Aravallis are being used to set up shanties.

In addition to areas of new Gurugram, this problem is also being reported from areas of the old city.

Public authorities, for long, have claimed to be providing better facilities to slum dwellers in these areas, but the change in inconspicuous.