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11 hutments gutted at Panchkula’s Kharak Mangoli village
The fire erupted around 12.50 pm and eight LPG cylinders exploded within minutes, said fire officials; two motorcycles and a tempo truck parked in the area were also destroyed
As many as 11 hutments were ravaged in a fire due to a suspected short-circuit at Kharak Mangoli village in Panchkula on Friday afternoon.
The fire erupted around 12.50 pm and eight LPG cylinders exploded within minutes, said fire officials. Two motorcycles and a tempo truck parked in the area were also destroyed.
Five fire tenders, including four from the Sector 4 fire station and one from the Sector 20 fire station, were pressed into service. It took firefighters 30 minutes to douse the flames. No one was hurt.
This is the second fire incident in Panchkula within a month. On April 14, a fire broke out at the site used by the Panchkula municipal corporation (MC) to dump horticulture waste in Industrial Area.
Haryana assembly speaker Gian Chand Gupta visited the affected families. He said, “I have directed the Panchkula SDM to inquire into the incident and submit a report so that such incidents are not repeated. The code of conduct is in place but the government will provide them all possible help.”
Congress leader and former deputy chief minister Chander Mohan also visited the village to meet the families. “I appeal to the authorities to provide immediate help to the families who have lost everything in the fire,” he said.
Panchkula SDM Gaurav Chauhan said, “We have made arrangements for the stay of the families in Nada Sahib Gurdwara and many NGOs have also stepped in to help temporarily build their houses.”
It may be mentioned that as part of the Haryana government’s initiative to make Panchkula slum free, the residents of Kharak Mangoli will be provided government flats.
