Wheat on 400 acres gutted in Panipat

Mukesh Tandon

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Tribune News Service

Panipat, April 27

Wheat crop spread over nearly 400 acres and stubble over nearly 800 acres in the Madlauda and Sanoli blocks of the district was destroyed in a fire on Saturday. As many as 15 fire incidents were reported across the district, leading to shortage of fire tenders and equipment.

The district administration sought support from the adjoining Karnal district and Sonepat, but to no avail. Fire tenders in other districts were also busy.

Sources said a fire broke out at Kavi village around 12.30 pm. It soon spread and damaged fields in adjoining villages, including Madlauda, Thirana, Untla, Atawla, Shera, Waiser, Khandra and Bhandari.

It also destroyed huts of labourers in Shera village, forcing them to leave the place. The fire reached a hatchery at Thirana village but was controlled on time. Some tractors were also gutted.

Witnesses said the fire spread due to high-velocity winds and destroyed the entire crop. Scores of residents of villages tried to prevent the fire from spreading, but to no avail.

Farmers informed the police control room and fire services about the incident. Bijender Singh, DSP, along with Inspector Mohan Lal, Madlauda SHO, reached the spot.

Over 10 fire tenders of the Panipat Municipal Corporation, IOCL refinery and National Fertilizers Limited managed to control the fire in around four and a half hours.

State Transport Minister Krishan Lal Panwar also visited the affected villages and met farmers. He said farmers had suffered huge losses. He said girdawari of the standing crop would be conducted and compensation of Rs 12,000 per acre would be granted to the affected farmers.

Another fire incident was reported near the Shani temple on NH-44 near ITI. As many as 13 jhuggis and vehicles were gutted and five animals were burnt alive. Satish Kumar, DSP (Headquarters) and Satish Gautam, DSP (City), along with a police team reached the spot. People said a fire had broken out in a factory adjoining their jhuggis on Friday night.

Island village struggles for help

Panipat: A massive fire broke out at Rahimpur Kheri village of the Sanoli block on Saturday, damaging the standing crop of 35 farmers spread over 200 acres and stubble over 50 acres. It is the last village of the district, which is located on an island in the middle of the Yamuna. In the absence of proper connectivity, help could not reach the village on time. A fire tender from Panipat and three from Shamli district of UP reached the spot after two hours and controlled the blaze. Sumedha Kataria, DC, said over 15 fire incidents were reported in a day. “We sought support from adjoining districts but couldn’t get help as their fire tenders were busy,” she said. “The loss has not been ascertained yet and officials have been directed to take stock of the situation,” she said. 

Crop, stubble reduced to ashes in Karnal 

Karnal: In a massive fire, wheat crop spread over hundreds of acres along with stubble and straw were reduced to ashes in a few hours in the Nissing area. of the district The authorities are yet to assess the losses, but farmers claim that wheat crop over 200 acres and straw and stubble over 500 acres were gutted. Five farmers also received injuries while controlling the fire. Farmers said the fire started from the fields in Kaithal district and soon spread to fields in Karnal district. After wreaking havoc in fields of Ruksana, Chorkarsa, Nissing and others, it reached Dachar village. More than six fire tenders were pressed into service. Karam Singh, a farmer, said the government should compensate the farmers for the losses. Anurag Dhalia, Assandh SDM, said the assessment was yet to be done. “Patwaris have been asked to assess the losses,” he said. TNS