Homeless Gurez fire victims await financial help as winter looms over

Bandipora, Oct 22: At least fourteen individuals are waiting in despair for relief and rehabilitation a week after two houses and ten shops were reduced to ashes in a major fire incident in Gurez Tehsil's Tulail Market in Dawar on 14 October.

In the incident, three brothers lost their home along with three shops, which were their sole source of income.

Shabir Ahmad Magary and his two brothers, all married, along with their parents, children, and sisters, are currently staying in the neighborhood. With everything lost, the families are struggling to cope with what lies ahead.

"The Red Cross provided each family with ten thousand rupees and tea bags," Magary said, adding, "That was it. Now, days after the fire ravaged everything, we are feeling abandoned."

Magary mentioned that one of the two houses affected by the fire "belonged to my parents. My parents, my two brothers, and I had been living in it separately."

Another house, he said, belonged to his late uncle, who had rented it to another family of a shopkeeper from Bandipora.

"Along with the house, his shop was also reduced to rubble," he said.

Although his cousin, Aijaz Ahmad, has a house in Dawar where his family of nine is residing, Magary and his brothers' families, totaling fourteen people, are now struggling even for daily necessities.

"There is no rice; everything turned to ashes, including our two daily needs shops," which Magary and his brother Shareef ran.

"It was our main business. We have nothing left now," he added. Another shop that they had rented out was also damaged in the blaze.

In total, authorities reported that ten shops and two houses were damaged. While some belonged to locals, others were rented by people from the Bandipora district headquarters, resulting in significant losses for them as well.

"There were a few rooms above the shops where we had stored household items and stock for our shops," Magary said, "which were also ravaged by the fire. We couldn't recover a single needle".

He expressed gratitude that neighbors have provided them with temporary shelter, but the delay in relief and rehabilitation is causing them anxiety as harsh winter approaches.

"We don't have a place to live, let alone think about reviving the business," Magary said. "It is impossible given our current situation."

"There were promises made during the incident, but since then, no one from local politicians or the administration has come to us; we have been left to God's mercy," he added.

"Winter is approaching now," Magary stressed, "and it is going to be very hard for us to rise from nothing."

Magary has a young daughter. His other brother has two children, while their third brother has recently gone through a divorce. In addition, they have their parents and sisters.

He suggested that had there been promises of rehabilitation made, it would have alleviated "the psychological toll we and our family members are experiencing."