Contractor booked over fire in shanties

Lucknow: Days after a major fire reduced over 80 makeshift homes to ashes in a slum under Krishnanagar police station limits, FIR was registered against a local contractor for allegedly facilitating illegal settlement on govt land.

The case, lodged on Tuesday, names contractor Sanjay Gupta and others under Sections 287 and 324(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). The complaint was filed by Shubham Kumar, resident of Kanausi in Ashok Nagar, whose home is adjacent to the site where the fire originated in early hours of Apr 22.

According to the FIR, 100 shanties were erected illegally on a vacant plot next and despite multiple complaints to the LMC and authorities fearing fire hazards, no preventive action was taken. "When we asked slum-dwellers to vacate, they claimed they were paying rent to Sanjay Gupta," Shubham stated, alleging that residents burned electrical wires to extract scrap metal, contributing to pollution and fire risk, besides unauthorized use of electricity connections.

The fire broke out around 1 am, triggered by a spark during illegal tapping of power lines. "I heard a gas cylinders cylinders and saw thick smoke. My family barely escaped in time," said Shubham, whose house built in 2021 with loan that is still being repaid, suffered extensive damage, including a collapsed wall.