Toddler charred to death in Baddi fire

A three-and-a-half-year-old girl and a pet dog were burnt alive after a devastating jhuggi fire broke out at Bhatoli Kalan in Baddi around midnight.

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The blaze destroyed 19 jhuggis, while firefighters managed to save 11 others through swift action. The deceased child, Kashish, was asleep when the fire erupted. Her father, Prahalad, a migrant worker from Uttar Pradesh, was at work when the tragedy struck. Many residents were also away, while those present managed to escape.Baddi Additional SP Ashok Verma stated that preliminary investigations suggest a short circuit as the cause of the fire. The jhuggis were built on 4.11 bighas of private land owned by Ram Lal, who was renting them out.

Aman Kashyap, a street food vendor operating outside Birla Textiles, reported the incident to the police. In his complaint, he stated that he had rented a jhuggi for three years from Joginder Singh, paying Rs 1,300 as rent and Rs 500 for power and water. The power meter for the jhuggi cluster was registered in the name of Pradeep Kumar, son of Ram Lal, the landowner. Joginder and Pradeep were allegedly collecting rent from all the dwellers.

While having lunch at 11.50 am, Aman noticed the fire and, along with Amarpal and Sachin, rushed to rescue the dwellers and children. A gas cylinder explosion during the fire added to the panic. Once the fire was extinguished, they discovered the charred remains of the young girl inside one of the burnt jhuggis. Additionally, two motorcycles parked nearby were also gutted.

The jhuggi residents accused Pradeep and Joginder of negligence, alleging that unsafe power connections led to the tragedy. The police have registered a case for reckless endangerment of human life and causing death by negligence, and further investigation is underway.

Meanwhile, local authorities have provided immediate relief to the affected families, rehabilitating them in a nearby gurdwara. The SDM of Baddi, Vivek Mahajan, announced Rs 25,000 in financial assistance to the family of the deceased child.

According to preliminary estimates, property worth approximately Rs 4 lakh was lost, as the flammable tarpaulin and thatched materials used in the jhuggis caught fire instantly.

Home Guards Commandant Santosh Sharma confirmed that a fire crew of eight personnel and two fire tenders reached the site at 12.10 pm. It took three hours to douse the flames, preventing further destruction.