Once burnt, twice shy: women in south-east Delhi slums better equipped to handle blazes

On a summer evening in 2005, a slum cluster in south-east Delhi’s Govindpuri caught fire, claiming two lives and injuring several others. One of the residents, Mohini, escaped unhurt but the incident haunts her even today.

“While people were trying to flee the fire, my sister fell on the ground and was hurt in a stampede. My brother suffered burns all over his body and my mother received severe injuries,” she said, adding that the incident made her feel helpless. Now 26, she is better prepared for such emergencies.

Since April 2022, Ms. Mohini and over 500 other women in Govindpuri and nearby low-income settlements such as Kabir Basti, Navjeevan Vihar and Kabadi Basti have been trained in basic firefighting techniques by the Delhi Fire Service (DFS) and Mehar Charitable Trust, an NGO.

Reason to train women

Women in low-income clusters are mostly homemakers and deal with cooking gas cylinders. During fires in such areas, cylinder blasts are common. Training women on how to douse fires and prevent cylinder blasts can save their lives and that of others, said officials.

Laxmi, a DFS officer, said the training is not limited to such clusters, but it is essential to train these women first so that they do not become easy casualties.

DFS personnel and the NGO staff organise day-long training camps for women every two months in these areas. The NGO also provides door-to-door training to women who are busy with domestic duties and cannot attend the camps.

“We were taught how to turn a stove on and off safely, put out cylinder fires using sand and wet clothes and dealing with the situation with basic household items,” said Dipika Kumari, a Govindpuri resident.

Shobha, 37, who has attended a few of these camps, said, “I enrolled voluntarily as I want to help people in such a situation. It made me feel empowered.”

Larger problem

Delhi has over 700 slum clusters, most of which have shanties built close to each other in narrow and overcrowded lanes.

In two such clusters that The Hindu visited, power transmission wires hung loosely over makeshift homes made of plastic, bamboo and other temporary materials.

Many of these houses store large quantities of flammable items, such as rags and plastic bottles. They also have faulty or improperly covered wiring, making them susceptible to fires.

Sandeep Mehar, a member of Mehar Charitable Trust, said the conditions in these settlements are deplorable and blazes cause heavy losses to the residents. “So, we train women in these areas and spread awareness as they are often at home and most vulnerable to fires,” he added.

Nargis, 30, from Kabir Basti, said, “I have seen homes burning in my slum. We can barely afford a living and if whatever we have is lost in a fire, it will take us ages to earn it back.”

“Fires are common in our area. Most of us earn some money by selling plastic bottles. So, we collect and store them in our homes. Learning how to prevent fires can save many of us,” said Jubaida, 35, from Navjeevan Vihar.

The trainers mentioned that they were presently focusing on low-income settlements in south-east Delhi and plan to expand the camps to other locations.