Prayagraj: House owners in Kareli Karamat chowki area are concerned about frequent fires caused by illegal shanties, which are inflicting significant damages. However, the administration appears to be ignoring the issue. On Thursday, a home near the colony established by mafia Atiq Ahmed henchman in Kareli neighborhood caught fire. The fire began to spread rapidly. On Thursday, a fire erupted on a scrap heap in Kareli’s Murga Darbar district. When the flames began to spread, the crowd panicked. After receiving the word, firefighters arrived at the scene and, after much work, suppressed the fire. No one died. People reside in huts near Chhotu’s scrap yard, which is in Kareli’s Murga Darbar neighborhood.
Scrap pickers have erected hundreds of cottages on unoccupied ground where they reside, and one of them caught fire. Before anybody could comprehend anything, fire had transformed into a horrific creature. The cottages were also consumed.
Engineer Mohammad Farooq Naseer, a retired government official and social worker, is shocked by the blazing flame that is demolishing illegal settlements near his home in the Kareli Karamat chowki neighborhood. He suffered a massive loss when fire from illegal slums created fractures in his walls and burned his personal things, incurring him significant damage. He has often highlighted the issue of illegal shanties growing next to his property, but all of his protests have gone unheard, with officials turning a blind eye to the illegal settlement of alleged Bangladeshis, Rohingyas, and Biharis in the region.
Engineer Mohammad Farooq Naseer gave several letters to the district administration, but till now no action has been taken. “All police officers are requested that, under no circumstances, the investigation and action against those who provide shelter to Bangladeshis living in slums in the Kareli police station area be stopped. This is a threat to the society and the country. Due to the storage of junk, we, the people living in the Kareli Karamat chowki area, are on the verge of death. Every crime takes place in these huts. The surprising thing is that why are these slums flourishing only in Muslim-dominated areas? There must be someone who is giving shelter to these Bangladeshi infiltrators because due to this junk, terrible fires have broken out many times, the walls of the nearby houses have burst, and there is also financial loss to the house owners. Goods worth thousands of rupees were destroyed and houses were burnt, but surprisingly, no action has been taken against any Bangladeshi infiltrator or slum dweller,” he lamented during a free-wheeling chat with journalists post-fire incident.
Behind Kareli Murga Darbar in Karamat ki Chowki police chowki area, fire broke out in the junk kept by these people in the slum of Bangladeshi, Rohangiyas and Biharis. The fire was so terrible that cracks appeared in the adjacent houses. The fire also showed its fury in the houses of the neighbors. Goods worth Rs. 15-16 thousand from adjacent house owners also got burnt in the fire. Fire has broken out several times in the slums of these people due to a heater short circuit. We people are waiting for our death. The district administration is urged to take strict action,” he retorted while replying to queries of scribes prior to signing off.
