The majority of Delhi's working-class population lives in slums (jhuggi-jhopris) and unauthorized colonies. These settlements are home to the people who build the cities, run them, and do the sanitation work. One such settlement is the Kabadi (Bengali) Colony in Rithala. This colony is surrounded on three sides by high boundary walls. Multi-story apartments are on one side of the settlement, and Rithala village is on the other.
The settlement is constructed from plastic sheets, bamboo, and poles. Despite more than thirty years having passed, there are still no basic amenities here; no toilets, no drinking water. With the slightest rain, the area becomes so muddy that it is difficult for an outsider to walk. There is only one main path to enter the settlement, and it was on this path that the fire broke out around 10:30 PM on the night of November 7, 2025.
In this fire, people's life savings and belongings, accumulated over years of hard work, were reduced to ashes. This is not the first time a fire has occurred in this settlement. Earlier, fires also broke out here on April 5, 2011, and December 4–5, 2016. This means the residents of this settlement have seen their homes destroyed three times in the last 14 years. This time, the fire started on the only exit route of the settlement, forcing people to somehow escape by climbing over or breaking down the back wall. Both lives and property have been lost in this fire.
This settlement is situated on government land, but until 2016, residents of Rithala village used to collect rent from the people living here. This was why, when the slum burned down in 2011, the villagers did not allow the media to report on it. Consequently, no one received compensation in 2011. When the fire reoccurred in 2016, a compensation of ₹25,000 per shanty was provided, after which the residents stopped paying rent to the village.
The people living here have migrated from the Birbhum, Murshidabad, Bardhaman, and Malda districts of West Bengal. Approximately 95 percent of the families work to keep Delhi clean by collecting garbage from homes, roads, and dumpsters. They do not receive any salary for this sanitation work. They sort out plastic bottles, glass, paper, cardboard, iron, etc., from the garbage and sell it to earn their livelihood.
These people bring the garbage collected from homes to their shanties, sort it, and then sell it once every week or two. It is estimated that this settlement collects over 300 tonnes of garbage every month. The women of the settlement work as cleaners in other homes. In this way, the government indirectly saves approximately ₹6–7 lakh per month.
Shildul Sheikh explains, “This settlement was not like this before. There was a ditch here, it would fill with water, and the area was covered in jungle. We used to go to the jungle to defecate. Slowly, people raised the ground level by filling their homes with construction debris. When the jungle was cut down and buildings were constructed, we dug a pit near our homes to build a toilet and installed taps for water. Only then did it become possible to live here.”
Ashildul Sheikh, who was born in this slum and is now 29 years old, collects garbage from Rohini Sector-4 (Ward No. 44), while his father drives a rickshaw. He also reiterates the same story that the settlement gradually built its own living infrastructure on its own efforts.
The deceased Munna has one daughter. His wife and daughter live in the village. Munna used to collect garbage from Pitam Pura to earn a living for his family. The injured Rajesh succumbed to his injuries at Safdarjung Hospital and passed away at 5 AM on the morning of November 11. He was a single father raising his two children (aged 15 and 14).
Zafar, 32 years old, is a resident of Murshidabad district. All his belongings were burnt. One of his goats died, and another is missing. He says, “This fire has pushed us back four or five years.” Zafar works at the garbage machine in Shakurpur L-Block, earning ₹5,000. He also collects segregated garbage from there. All three of his children study in the Delhi Municipal Corporation (MCD) school, and his wife sorts garbage at home.
Shahzad Sheikh, a resident of Birbhum district, works at the garbage collection machine in Pitam Pura from 6 AM to 2 PM. All his belongings and his garbage collection cart have burned, as well as his children's notebooks, books, and school uniforms.
Ramjan has four children studying in the fifth, fourth, and third grades at the MCD school. All their books and school uniforms were burned. He mentions that so far, there has been no help from the government. Food is being provided by NGOs or people coming from outside. The government has made temporary arrangements for them to live by the roadside, but no one is going there. Everyone is living out in the open.
Nazul, 30 years old, works at the garbage machine in Rohini Sector-8. He mentions that he used to receive ₹5,000, but he hasn't been paid this money for the last six months.
Rana, a resident of Birbhum district, has studied up to the tenth grade. He has been living in this settlement with his father for three years. His father, Morshalim Khan (45 years), ran a grocery shop in the settlement, which has completely burned down. Rana explains that one man collects at least 400 kg of garbage daily, of which he sorts some and brings it home. The fire destroyed around 70–80 vehicles, including e-rickshaws and handcarts, 7–8 two-wheelers, and one "Champion" cargo vehicle.
The government saves around ₹7-8 lakh from the people of this settlement, and the cleaning of thousands of tonnes of Delhi's garbage is done by their hands.
Previously, 19 shanties were gutted by fire on the night of November 19–20 in Shahbad-Daulatpur. There, too, a local strongman used to collect rent from the people at ₹50 per square yard. All these people were from Bengal and worked as waste collectors. Such incidents have been continuous in Shahbad. Three months ago, 25 shanties nearby were completely burned, and the residents had to be displaced from that location. People say that after the fire, they are removed from the spot, and now Rana has also said that no one will live here anymore. No help has been received from the government either.
Waste pickers suffer from all sides. The majority of waste collectors or pickers in Delhi are Muslims from Bengal and Assam. They are often harassed by the police who refer to them as "Bangladeshis." Wherever they live, local strongmen collect rent. They also do not receive any payment for the garbage they collect from homes. They are told to collect the garbage, sort it, and whatever they sell is their wage.
With the arrival of private companies, they have been forced to work for free. Where there used to be a ledger (for payment), machines have now been installed, and they have to work there for free. Often, the company supervisors and managers extort monthly payments from them. Several NGOs formed in the name of their "welfare" are also involved in their exploitation.
According to the Supreme Court's directives, NGOs are responsible for providing laborers to private companies. However, these NGOs collude with company managers, usurp the workers' wages, and misappropriate their earnings.
This garbage is brought home and sorted, which means the entire settlement rests on heaps of trash. This is why, when a fire breaks out, it spreads very quickly and engulfs the entire settlement, leading to heavy losses of both life and property.
When the government, the police-administration, and the NGOs formed in the name of their welfare are engaged in harassing and exploiting them, there is a need for civil society to step forward. These marginalized people must be freed from the exploitation of the police-administration, local strongmen, Solid Waste Management companies, and NGOs. These are the people whose hard work keeps our homes, neighborhoods, and markets clean.
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*Social worker and journalist
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