Srinagar blaze leaves 37 families homeless

Atleast 37 families were rendered homeless after around 24 residential houses and structures were damaged in a devastating blaze in Srinagar on Wednesday night, officials said

Atleast 37 families were rendered homeless after around 24 residential houses and structures were damaged in a devastating fire in Srinagar on Wednesday night, officials said.

The houses that were gutted in the blaze at Noor Bagh in Srinagar on Thursday. (Waseem Andrabi/HT)

They said that the fire erupted in a congested locality of Noor Bagh area of Srinagar during the night hours and spread quickly.

Four people, including a firefighter, received minor injuries in the incident and were hospitalised.

Revenue officer (patwari) of Noorbagh Dawood Rasool said that over three dozen families became homeless in the blaze and its exact cause is yet to be ascertained.

He said that the fire started at around 3 am and spread quickly. “It is an inner area and a very congested locality with mostly poor families. By the time the fire services arrived, the whole area was engulfed in flames,” he said.

The families have been shifted to the nearby community centre and the officials have provided some immediate minor relief. “We immediately provided some relief items like mattresses, kitchen sets, blankets, bed sheets and ₹5,000 cash to each family from the Red Cross,” Rasool said. He said that the families will also be provided relief from State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) in coming days.

Meanwhile, two houses were damaged in another fire incident in the Rajouri Kadal area of the city late last night, the officials said.

The cause of fire in both the incidents is being ascertained, they said.

On the directions of the Srinagar deputy commissioner Mohammad Aijaz Asad, additional deputy commissioner (ADC) Srinagar, Dr Syed Hanief Balkhi also visited Sheikh Colony in Noor Bagh area of the district to take first hand appraisal and on the spot assessment of the damages caused due to devastating fire incident.

Essential assistance in the form of 185 blankets, 111 mattresses, 111 bed sheets and 37 kitchen sets, besides ₹185000 to 37 families was provided out of Red Cross as an interim relief to the fire victims.

Meanwhile, the deputy commissioner has also sanctioned structure wise financial assistance of ₹25,47,500 in favour of 25 house owners of Noorbagh and ₹1,01,900 in favour of Rajouri Kadal house owners under SDRF.

Further, the district administration has appealed to the general public to follow all precautionary measures while handling electric/electronic gadgets, LPG cylinders and other appliances being used for heating and cooking purposes to avoid such fire incident.