Three-storey house, hosiery unit gutted in Ludhiana
MLA Bagga, DC and MC chief inspect site
Goods worth lakhs were destroyed in a massive fire that charred a three-storey house and an adjoining factory on Street Number 6 of Gandhi Nagar late on Monday night, said officials.
They said the walls of several other buildings were damaged due to the heat. The officials said the blaze was so fierce that the first fire brigade vehicle had to retreat.
Locals said that top storey of a house owned by one Rajan, a scrap dealer, caught fire around 11 pm on Monday. Though residents tried to control the blaze with resources available to them, the fire spread to lower storeys and a part of the adjoining hosiery unit within minutes.
Fire officials said it took them over five hours to douse the flames.
Though the police are yet to ascertain the sequence of events that led to the fire and the reason behind it, electric short-circuit is suspected to have caused the blaze.
Ludhiana North MLA Madan Lal Bagga and senior district and civic body officials on Tuesday visited the affected area to assess the damage and extend support to victims.
MLA Bagga and Deputy Commissioner Himanshu Jain inspected the building razed in the fire. District administration teams remained on the spot throughout the night to monitor the situation.
According to officials, Councillor Aman Bagga participated in the rescue operations with his team, ensuring evacuation and assistance to locals. MLA Bagga announced financial relief of Rs 1.5 lakh to the family whose house was damaged in the incident. DC Jain assured that the administration will provide every possible support, including additional financial aid.
Municipal Corporation (MC) Commissioner Aaditya Dachalwal conducted an inspection of the site along with MC Zonal Commissioner Neeraj Jain and Assistant Divisional Fire Officer (ADFO) Jaswinder Singh.
He directed the civic body and fire brigade officials to carry out a thorough inquiry into the cause of the fire and take necessary action if negligence or anomalies are found.
Dachalwal appealed to the residents to adopt proper fire safety measures to prevent untoward incidents in the future.
