On the fateful morning of Monday, November 21, Rati Begum, 70, a widow who lives in Buchwara area of Dalgate in Srinagar was having conversation with one of her neighbor outside the house, where she lives with her son and daughter in law.As she tried to step into her house, she heard men and women shouting and crying a few houses away for her, where a huge black smoke was rising.Next 45 minutes played a havoc, as 16 houses were razed to ground by the devastating fire including that of Rati’s and one person was found dead under the debris.The fire rendered more than 60 families including men, women and children’s homeless under the bone chilling cold of Kashmir.“I am a widow and this house(pointing finger at the burnt structure) was only thing which we were able to make from our life long savings. It was sweat and blood of my late husband, which this devastating fire took away. I lost everything in this fire,” said Rati Begum.
Rati lost all her warm clothes, much needed in the winter season, which has already set in.Sensing the gravity of situation, US based Indian Muslim Relief and Charities (IMRC) came to rescue by providing the fire victims with warm clothes kit comprising of thermals, warmers, socks and winter caps. “I am thankful to Allah for sending this help to us. We are really grateful to the organisation and all the donors for coming to our help, otherwise surviving without warm clothes would have been impossible in the killing cold of Kashmir,” said Rati.The warm cloth kits were distributed among fire victims of Dalgate, Sarai Bala and Habak which included 120 families comprising of 510 individuals. Ghulam Mohammad, 70, a fire victim works as a street vendor earning barely Rs 200 per day. He lost his house beside his cart and all the stock meant for sale. “Every night after coming from work, I used to keep cart inside my house along with the stock which used to reamin unsold. The fire took everything from me, my house, my source of livelihood even my clothes,” said Mohammad.He and his family was also provided with the winter cloth kit by IMRC volunteers so, that they can protect themselves from the bone chilling cold of the valley. “I am very thankful to these people who are helping this old man.
Allah tala karnav abaad (May Allah bless you),” he added.IMRC coordinated the whole distribution programme with the valley based non government organization, Ehsaas Trust International.IMRC has always been at the forefront when it comes to any emergency relief work in Kashmir. When we got ground reports that the fire victims were suffering due to non availability of warm clothes, we asked for IMRC help. The beneficiaries have appreciated the help and support provided by IMRC,” said IMRC’s Srinagar based volunteer, Hakim Mohammad Ilyas.Indian Muslim Relief & Charities (IMRC) is a US based non-profit organization which began in 1981 and helps run several programmes throughout the country in partnership with over 100 organizations. It focuses on providing education, emergency relief, medical & legal aid, shelter and food for the needy. It has been at the forefront of providing immediate relief to affected victims of the 2016 Bihar Floods, 2015 West Bengal Floods, 2015 Nepal earth quakes, 2014 Kashmir Floods, 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots, 2012 Assam riots, and other natural/man-made calamities.