Devastating Blaze Breaks Out in Noida’s Sarfabad Village

Blaze in Noida’s Sarfabad village destroyed 250 shanties, rendering 1,000 people homeless.

A view of the site where a fire broke out gutting several shanties at Sarfabad village in Sector 73, Noida on 4 January 2019. 

(Photo courtesy: IANS)

A massive fire broke out in Sarfabad village in Sector 73, Noida, around 2:45 am on Friday, 4 January. Hindustan Times reported that as many as 250 shanties were destroyed in the blaze, rendering over a 1,000 people homeless in the cold winter.

30-year-old Monirul Dafadar and his six-year-old son Sanil Dafadar were left with serious burn injuries. No one else has been critically injured.

Residents told Hindustan Times that the fire, which started in one shanty in the corner of the colony, quickly spread throughout the area. The fire tenders, residents complained to HT, only reached the area an hour after the initial call was made. The fire was doused by the fire tenders by 6 am.

“I have been living here for the past six months with my son and wife. All my belongings in the fire have been destroyed and now, we have nowhere to go.” 

Shahidul Mian, a native of Kolkata in West Bengal, who works as a scrap dealer, to <i>Hindustan Times</i>.

Families that have Aadhaar cards or any other documentation would receive compensation money, said Anjani Kumar (Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Gautam Buddh Nagar) told Hindustan Times. Quilts and food are being distributed, he added.

But, residents of Sarfabad said they had lost all their documents in the fire.

“We had no time to save our belongings as the fire spread quickly through the shanties. All our documents, including Aadhaar cards and passbooks have been destroyed.”

Afroz, a resident of the area, to <i>Hindustan Times</i>.

(With inputs from Hindustan Times.)