Seven charred to death in hut fire near Ludhiana dumpsite

There are several rag pickers who live around a huge dump of 20 lakh metric tonnes of garbage near Tajpur road. The family had their hut at the same spot and had been living in Ludhiana for the last 10 years.

Ram Babu Sahni, a relative of the deceased, said Suresh was planning to go to his native village in a day or so for his elder daughter’s marriage, which was scheduled for April 30.

Though police have not revealed the cause of the fire, Tibba road police station SHO Randhir Singh said: “Two table fans were running inside the jhuggi and it had a small LPG cylinder as well. Whether it was a short-circuit or any other cause is yet to be ascertained. A case under 174 CrPC has been lodged after this incident.”

Forensic experts have taken the samples and the footage of the two nearby CCTV cameras is being examined, he added.

Jaskirat Singh, a member of the Punjab Action committee(PAC) that works on environmental issues in Punjab, said that a fire had started at the dumpsite on April 17.

While the SHO confirmed the April 17 incident, he refused to link it to the migrants’ deaths and the fire that engulfed their hut.

Lalita Kumari, a slum dweller, said: “The jhuggi was on fire at about 1.30 am. We woke up but there was no water to extinguish the flames and by the time help came, everything was finished. None of the family members could come out and they were burnt alive.”

Ludhiana Mayor Balkar Singh Sandhu said, “It is really sad that seven of a family have died. I am also aware of the fire in that garbage dump which started on April 17 and still has not been doused. Now, we have planned to get one tubewell installed in that area for water. People living in shanties are really poor and they have been advised a number of times not to stay in that area, but they don’t move away.”

Col Jasjit Singh Gill (retd), an environmental activist, said that fire at the garbage dump was a serious issue and to avoid such accidents the municipal corporation needed to step up its work of solid waste management.

The Mayor said that the MC was also working to tackle the waste management problem at the dumpsite.