Kanpur/Aligarh: Nearly 50 shanties were gutted after a major fire broke out in Rakhi Mandi under Raipurwa police station area in Kanpur on Tuesday morning, a fire official said. The cause of the fire could not be ascertained till now.
Within no time the fire took a formidable form and huge clouds of smoke covered the sky. Local residents informed the fire brigade after spotting the smoke and tried to extinguish the flames. On getting information, fire tenders were pressed into service from nearby areas and efforts are still underway to control the fire.
It has been learnt that scrap accumulated in the area caught fire and it spread to the adjoining areas. At least 50 shanties were completely damaged.
Rakhi Mandi is a densely populated area and has several shanties. People who were inside when the fire broke out, somehow managed to come out of their dwellings unhurt and moved away from the spot. They lamented that they could not collect their belongings and all were burnt to ashes.
Teams from Raipurwa police stations are at the spot and fire tenders have been deployed from different fire stations.
Jitendra, a local resident said more than 50 families have been left homeless due to the fire. All the belongings and household items were burnt to ashes, he said.
BJP MLA Mahesh Trivedi, who reached the spot after receiving information about the fire, alleged that chemicals and scrap materials are hoarded illegally in this area. "This land belongs to the Railways and many people are engaged in illegal activities here. Police, administration and fire brigade teams are at the spot," he said.
Chief Fire Officer Deepak Sharma said fire tenders were sent to Rakhi Mandi as soon as information about fire was received. Efforts are being made to extinguish the fire by the fire brigade team and police, he said adding that the cause of fire is not yet clear.
Meanwhile, in a similar incident, fire broke out in the CT scan room of Pandit Deendayal District Hospital in Banna Devi police station area on Tuesday morning. The fire brigade team reached the spot and brought the fire under control. Short circuit is being said to be the cause of the fire.
According to eyewitness Ramesh Chandra, a worker, the incident occurred at around 7:30 am at the CT scam room where printers, computers and CT scan machines were kept.
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