Tonnes of material for donation gutted due to Diwali crackers, Goonj wants help

"7 hours of un-manageable fire, 10 fire brigades, 3000 sq.ft of area, tons of material, where we all had put in our days and nights turned into ash."
Tonnes of material for donation gutted due to Diwali crackers, Goonj wants help
Tonnes of material for donation gutted due to Diwali crackers, Goonj wants help
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A fire broke out in the compound of the Delhi-based NGO Goonj on the evening of Diwali on November 11 and gutted the warehouse destroying tonnes of material for donation. These included blankets and woolens which were to be distributed among the needy during the winters.

The NGO has said that the fire may have started after a firecracker fell inside their compound in southeast Delhi's Madanpur Khadar area.

Anshu Gupta, founder of the NGO, wrote in a post on Facebook, "Here I was asking you to spread the message against crackers and there a cracker did this to Goonj's center in Delhi. 7 hours of un-manageable fire, 10 fire brigades till 2 am on Diwali night. 3000 sq.ft of area, tons of material, where we all had put in our days and nights turned into ash !!"

Image source: Anshu Gupta/Facebook

"Nothing much to say.. anger on this insane, menace, vulgarity called crackers!! Will share more as we fight back but certainly one of the saddest moments for the team and lakhs of people who are a part of Goonj's larger family.. particularly sad as blankets to woolens, clothes to whatever is needed much more, in the days to come !! 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. 

Image source: Anshu Gupta/Facebook

"We have not been able to calculate the financial loss, but it cannot be recovered easily ," Gupta told The Times of India.

Image source: Anshu Gupta/Facebook

The organisation has started an online campaign to collect woolens and blankets. "We do not need money. It is better if people start sending good quality materials. Even if they send money, it will be converted to materials," Gupta told The Quint. The NGO has also started a BitGiving campaign to collect funds for repairing the damages caused by the fire.

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