Day after blaze, families spend night in streets

A day after a massive fire broke out late at night at a slum cluster near Rithala metro station in northwest Delhi, turning nearly 500 jhuggis to ash and killing at least one, its 2,000 residents say they spent their night under the open sky, braving the cold temperatures.

- Gargi Shukla

“I was awake all night, ensuring that my 9-year-old specially abled child is able to get some sleep and is all warm,” said Parveen Khatoon who spent the night of November 8 outside a shop near the slum. “It was like she was sleeping under natural AC and I spent the entire night praying that she doesn’t get an epilepsy attack.”

Khatoon isn’t the only one who's night was filled with anxiety and worry about the future.