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.

“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 a natural AC and I spent the entire night praying that she doesn’t get an epilepsy attack,” Khatoon added.

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

Aisha Bibi, who is eight months pregnant, slept on the terrace of a nearby factory with her two young boys. Aisha said her delivery is next month and, with no place to call home, she is unsure how the future of her unborn child would look like.

“I went for a checkup, including an ultrasound, urine check and blood test on the day my house caught fire. My reports were all normal,” said the 27-year-old. “But after that night nothing is normal for me. I have all my medicines but I don’t have food to eat before having them. We have managed to build temporary washrooms but our tanks are all burnt. We have to carry water from a school nearby.”

While the cause of the fire still has to be ascertained, officials said, locals say that a spark in a nearby transformer led to the blaze. It expanded after some cooking gas cylinders also caught fire. It claimed the lives of some animals and gutted a few vehicles as well. A 30-year-old man was also charred to death.

When HT visited the spot, people had gathered on the scorched land where once their house stood. While locals were seen helping the slum residents with food, water and clothes, the slum residents said the government has not provided them with any help. The nine-compartment structure that the government had stationed as a relief centre in a nearby park, was too small to accommodate 2,000 people, said locals. HT found that these structures had thin green carpet and with cow dung spread at certain places.

“My sister-in-law had come yesterday and given us a few blankets,” said 65-year-old Arjan Sheikh.

Some locals also feared that if they left their place at the burnt grounds, locals would occupy them.