Help pours out from Valley for victims of Kishtwar fire

With a major fire damaging over 80 structures in Warwan area of Kishtwar district in Jammu division earlier this month, people in the Kashmir Valley are coming forward to donate for the fire victims, especially ahead of the winter season.

A major fire had caused extensive damaged to residential property in Warwan area of the district on October 14 after which the locals had also blamed the absence of any fire station in the area for the incident. The fire tenders were sent from Anantnag district in Kashmir as the place where the incident took place is far-flung and not easily accessible.

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah recently sanctioned Rs 1.70 crore for the victims of the tragedy.

Malik Zahoor, from one of the NGOs in Srinagar, said they has put up a camp here, where people came and donated several items for the victims. “The response was huge. People came forward and delivered different kinds of goods, including food and clothing. We collected all the items and then a truckload was sent to Warwan,” he said.

Several locals in Srinagar, who donated for the fire victims, said they felt this was their duty to help the victims. “Even if they are in the Jammu region, they are our brothers,” said Hilal Ahmad, a local from Srinagar’s old city.

Not only in Srinagar, several NGO and local groups collected items in other districts of Kashmir as well. Many locals posted messages on social media asking people to donate.

“We collected different items and sent it to Kishtwar,” said a local from South Kashmir, involved in the donation drive.

Ababeel, a charitable trust, posted on Facebook that it has collected Rs 1.54 crore till October 23 for Warwan fire relief fund.

In fact, after taking oath as the Chief Minister of the union territory of J&K, Omar Abdullah, during his first visit to the Jammu region, had met the families in Warwan whose homes were razed to rubble due to the fire.

Hurriyat Conference chairman and Jamia Masjid chief cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq had last Friday called on the people of Kashmir to generously support families devastated by recent fires in Kishtwar and Gurez. While stressing the moral and religious responsibility to assist these vulnerable communities, especially with the harsh weather conditions approaching, Mirwaiz had urged people to come forward and provide material and financial support.