Kolkata: More than 50 shanties and over 15 cowsheds were gutted when a massive fire broke out in a slum at Dum Dum’s Chatakal on Saturday afternoon.
Fire brigade sources said at least 12 fire engines were pressed into service to put out the blaze that devoured the entire “Melabagan” slum near Hanuman Temple at Chatakal adjacent to Bagjola Canal in Dum Dum.
Locals said several people from the burning shanties along with the cattle from cowsheds had to jump into the canal to save their lives.
According to fire brigade officials, no casualty has been reported in the fire that broke out around 11.45 am. It took around four hours to extinguish the blaze. The civic disaster management force was also engaged in the dousing operations along with the fire brigade personnel.
The fire rendered hundreds of people homeless in the scorching summer even as the agitated slum dwellers alleged that the damage could have been reduced if the fire brigade had arrived earlier. “We have lost everything in the fire. We only ran for our life as the heat almost scalded us,” said a woman.
Firemen said their work was initially hampered as fire engines couldn’t enter the congested slum area along the narrow lanes smoothly.Fire services minister Sujit Bose rushed to the spot and started supervising the fire fighting work. “The blaze has been contained but was still raging in pockets inside the shanties. The robotic fire extinguisher was applied to detect the flame as well as to bring the blaze under control as soon as possible,” Bose said, adding that the state govt will provide all kinds of help to affected families.
The fire was aggravated by the burst of several LPG cylinders and other combustibles stored in the shanties. Localsjoined firefighters in salvaging household materials in the shanties. TMC’s Dum Dum candidate and sitting MP Saugata Roy and CPM’s Dum Dum candidate Sujan Chakraborty also reached the spot.