Fire in remote Himachal village renders 48 families homeless

Kuldeep Chauhan

Tribune News Service

Shimla, January 15

As many as 57 houses were reduced to ashes and 14 head of cattle killed in a fire in the remote Tangnu village of Chirgaon subdivision, 41 km from Rohru in Shimla district, late last night. As many as 48 families were rendered homeless. Property worth Rs 12 crore was destroyed. Children, the elderly and women were evacuated to a safer place.

The fire broke out at 11 pm when the village was asleep, said Bhagat Chand, Tangnu panchayat head, who alerted Rohru SDM Anupam Thakur and the Fire Brigade at 11.30 pm. Residents of nearby Chantwari, Thaitwari and Diudi villages rushed to the burning village to help fight the flames that spread rapidly.

“We used water and sand to extinguish the fire but were only partly successful," said Kishan Chand, Diudi gram panchayat chief.

At 1.30 am, a rescue team led by the Rohru SDM, DSP and District Forest Officer (DFO) arrived in the village. "With roads covered with snow, it took them more than an hour to cover a distance of 41 km. Trekking 500 metres, the team finally joined the fire-fighting operation and succeeded in saving 15 houses," said Bhagat Singh, who was all praise for the quick response of the district administration.

Those rendered homeless were provided temporary shelter at the government senior secondary school in Tangnu. “Residents of Chantwari, Thaitwari and Diud volunteered to provide accommodation to the fire victims. We provided ration, tents, blankets, quilts, bedding, gas cylinders, stoves and Rs 40,000 to each of the affected families,” the SDM said, adding that the DFO had sanctioned timber for the fire victims to help them rebuild their houses.

Rohan Chand Thakur, DC, Shimla, promised all possible assistance to the victims.