Ghaziabad: A massive fire swept through the Kanawani slum cluster in Indirapuram on Thursday afternoon, reducing over 150 jhuggis to ash and triggering explosions in at least 50 gas cylinders that sent residents fleeing in a stampede-like situation.The fire broke out at 12.17 pm and a strong afternoon wind quickly drove the flames across the densely packed settlement. Within minutes, it engulfed at least 12 scrap warehouses alongside the jhuggis. Gas cylinders stacked inside the huts began to explode in rapid succession, each blast deepening the panic. Thick columns of black smoke were visible from adjacent high-rise towers in Rajnagar Extension, and even from parts of Noida.Firefighters brought the blaze under control around 2 pm, but it flared up again and could only be fully doused around 4 pm, nearly four hours after it began. Even as cooling operations continued late into the evening, rescue teams confirmed no lives had been lost. But most residents claimed they lost all their savings and furniture.
Thick columns of black smoke were visible from adjacent high-rise towers in Rajnagar Extension, and even from parts of Noida
Mushtari Khatoon (35), who was waiting for her mother to return home for lunch when the fire broke out, said Rs 50,000 had been set aside by the family for her younger siblings’ school admissions. “I heard the explosions. But by the time I understood what was happening, the flames had already made the decision for me,” she said. The money was gone before Khatoon could reach for it. “So, I ran.”Around her, hundreds of others were doing the same.Amid smoke and chaos, several children were separated from their parents, leading to frantic searches. Chandan Paswan, who managed to escape with his family in the nick of time, said his family was just settling down for lunch. “We heard the screams and came out only to find the flame leaping towards our home. The fire surrounded the area in no time,” he said. “I took my family and ran. When we were running towards the road, my eight-year-old son somehow got separated in the crush. When we realised my son was missing, we had imagined the worst,” he said.
Twenty-two fire engines were mobilised from stations across Ghaziabad, Noida and Tata Steel, and deployed simultaneously from four directions
According to rescue personnel, 10 children were separated from their families as the crowd surged toward the road. All, including Paswan’s son, were found by evening and reunited with their families.By nightfall, all that was left behind was a landscape of ash where a settlement of thousands had stood hours earlier. At least 1,000 were left homeless, officials said.Chief fire officer Rahul Pal said four engines reached the spot within minutes of the first call, but it was nowhere near enough. Twenty-two fire engines were eventually mobilised, from stations across Ghaziabad, Noida and Tata Steel, and deployed simultaneously from four directions, in an effort to keep the fire from reaching the high-rise societies that pressed against the plot’s edge.
Gas cylinders stacked inside the hutments began to explode in rapid succession, creating panic
“The fire was brought under control around 2 pm. But it flared up again. Fire engines made multiple rounds and continuously doused the fire with water, after which the blaze was finally brought under control around 4 pm,” he said. Cooling operations, however, stretched late into the night.The CFO said the blaze was suspected to have started from a domestic stove or a short circuit, and an investigation is underway. Authorities are also conducting a count of the exact number of dwellings destroyed. Eyewitness Aakash said he saw sparks flying from electric wires passing over one of the jhuggis before the fire took hold.The district magistrate, DCP, and chief medical officer, who were at the spot along with police and administrative officials, said more than 30 ambulances were also put on standby, and nearby hospitals were alerted for any emergency.
CFO Rahul Roy said the blaze was suspected to have started from a domestic stove or a short circuit, and an investigation is underway
It was not the first time fire had found Kanawani. In April 2018, a blaze tore through the same slum cluster, gutting 100 jhuggis and displacing around 250 people.A subsequent survey conducted by police on the direction of the GDA found nearly 8,000 people, mostly construction labourers from other states, living across 10 large slum clusters in Indirapuram, Vasundhara, Vaishali, and Kaushambi. The survey noted that the jhuggis, built from tin sheets and polythene, were highly combustible, and that the risk of a catastrophic fire rose sharply in summer.Seven years later, little had changed.A GMC official said the Kanawani cluster was home to migrant labourers, and that initial investigation had pointed to a local mafia renting out hutments on govt land. “We plan to conduct a major anti-encroachment drive in the area,” the official said.
