A resident of Number 4 Basanti Colony tries to douse embers on Wednesday. (Bishwarup Dutta)

Over 2,500 residents of Number 4 Basanti Colony in Ultadanga woke up to an uncertain future on Wednesday at two relief camps set up on either side of the canal. Many trooped to the charred remains of their homes and tried to salvage anything that Tuesday’s devastating fire may have spared. But little was left save a broken bucket or a battered trunk.

“We have nothing,” said Mohsina Mondol, a middle-aged tea stall owner now staying with seven members of her family at the relief tent erected by the Calcutta Municipal Corporation (CMC) inside the P&T Colony, adjacent to the blaze site. The camp is now home to over 1,500 people.

Their despair was mirrored in the faces of the victims at the Trinamul relief camp set up by local MLA Sujit Bose on a field across the canal, where 1,000-odd victims have sought shelter.

The victims were given four meals a day, some clothes and blankets and a shamiana over their heads.

“They gave us milk, biscuits and bread in the morning. For lunch we had khichdi and vegetables,” said flower vendor Mira Saha, whose family of four received saris, lungis and gamchhas. To beat the cold, they were given blankets and ear warmers.

Since morning, various self-help groups and NGOs descended on the relief camps. Some set up medical facilities, treating bruises, fractures and fever, while others distributed styrofoam plates, tarpaulin sheets and dry food among the victims.

Over 40 water tankers of the CMC supplied water to the two camps and civic workers were spotted spreading disinfectants near drains and garbage vats. Local councillor Rupa Bagchi of the CPM oversaw the relief operation.

The despondency somewhat lifted after Mamata Banerjee visited the two camps and announced that pucca homes would be erected for those who lost their homes.

“Didi, we have nowhere to go, please help us,” cried an elderly woman as Mamata met some of the victims.

“Yes, we will do something... we will build 650 homes on the same site, which belongs to the railways,” said Mamata, party MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar at her side.