Fear of the uncertain grips second Amrit building

This building with 15 dilapidated rooms,and one bathroom,and a dark,greasy and precarious flight of steps,is also owned by Amrit Singh,the builder of N-85.

A year ago,Kalpana left her village in West Bengal to come to Delhi with her daughter,son and a few relatives. Her husband,who is mentally disabled,is in the village. There was no money,and no food.

When she first climbed the dark steps,she thought it was a strange place,smelling of misery,sweat and excreta. She was to share a room with 10 others.

Like the ones who occupied similar space in the six-floor building that went down on Monday,Kalpana works as a domestic help in nearby buildings. She makes around Rs 2,500 per month — Rs 1,000 goes towards rent which is shared among the occupants. Her daughter,14-year-old Rakhi now works as a help. She makes Rs 1,000. From their combined earnings,the duo send some money home too.

In this space sans electricity,sans basic living conditions,there is no privacy. As Kalpana stands drying herself with a towel,men assemble to watch her. She shrugs. By now,she is used to the gaze. It came with the house. “I feel unsafe. But what options do I have,” she said. “Life in the village was better but we had no money.”

There are also a slew of factories strewn around the neighbourhood. Garments,bangles. Sweat shops.

Some migrants work in these factories,bent over sewing machines,or sticking glitter to the glass bangles.

That’s what they had been doing there,up in the building that fell. Veena,who lives next door,said she switched on the lights in her balcony to help the locals carry out the initial rescue work.

“These were poor people. People were using the lights from their cell phones to pull people out from the rubble,” she said. “It was tragic. The glass in my house shattered with the effect. These were very poor people. That building was waiting to fall. It was in a bad state.”

The fall of the building has triggered the fear of the unknown,the uncertain. It is a grim reminder of what could come their way as well. But to uproot again isn’t an option. Their choices are limited by their poverty.