Goonj founder claims firecracker devastated its Delhi centre

Anshu Gupta, the founder of NGO Goonj, on Friday posted pictures of a devastating fire at a centre of his NGO here on Diwali night and claimed it was caused by a firecracker.

Gupta posted on Facebook the pictures of the fire at the NGO's Sarita Vihar centre and wrote that the fire lasted for about seven hours and was doused by 10 fire tenders.

"Here I was asking you to spread the message against (fire) crackers and there a cracker did this to Goonj's centre in Delhi. Seven hours of un-manageable fire, 10 fire brigades till 2 a.m. on Diwali night. 3000 sq.ft of area, tonnes of material, where we all had put in our days and nights turned into ash!!"

"Response on a few things from our Delhi office might be slow for the next couple of days as the team is fighting back with this huge loss of material, money and space!!" he added.

Speaking to IANS, Gupta said they would strive to recover the loss through campaigns.

"We lost materials like winter clothes and blankets. It is a major loss but I'm sure we will be able to recover it through our ongoing campaigns," he said.

A police officer told IANS that the fire was caused by firecrackers. He said a case has been registered in connection with the accident and loss caused is being assessed.