Close shave for family of 15 as fire ravages cloth factory on Tibba Road

Fire officials have yet to ascertain the cause of the fire; MLA accuses MC and police of failing to act against open scrap godowns

As many as 15 members of a joint family had a narrow escape after a fire broke out at their building in Guru Gobind Singh Nagar, Tibba Road, in the wee hours of Friday morning.

The damaged machines at the factory located on the ground floor of the building at Guru Gobind Singh Nagar, Tibba Road, in Ludhiana; and (right) cracks in a wall of the first floor where the family lives. (Gurpreet Singh/HT)

According to fire officials, the fire ravaged the three-storey building, which housed a cloth factory on the ground floor, while the family lived on the first floor and the second floor was unoccupied.

The flames also gutted the adjoining scrap godown, whose plot is owned by senior Congress leader and former councillor Daljit Singh Bhola. He has rented out the plot to the scrap godown owners.

Building owner Gokul Chand said he and his two brothers lived with their families on the first floor, while they had rented out the ground floor for a cloth factory.

Chand said the fire was not noticed until 4am when one of his family members felt difficulty breathing. As he raised the alarm, the family of 15, including four children, rushed downstairs and also brought down the gas cylinders kept in their kitchen.

The family initially tried to douse the flames, and later informed the fire brigade at 4.40am.

Fire department had to call in a JCB machine to tear down the scrap godown’s walls to facilitate the firefighting process.

Sub fire officer (SFO) Atish Rai said they were informed about the fire at 4.40am, and the flames were doused by around 1pm. He added that they had yet to ascertain the cause behind the fire.

While the residents vacated the building safely, the structure has developed cracks. The makeshift metal sheets used to cover the scrap godown also collapsed in the fire.

Meanwhile, the owners of the cloth factory and scrap godown blamed each other for the mishap.

NO CHECK ON SCRAP GODOWN OWNERS: MLA

Local MLA Sanjay Talwar claimed that despite several complaints, the municipal corporation and police had failed to take action against the hordes of open scrap godowns that were functioning without adequate fire safety measures.

He said he will again take up the matter with them so that further loss of property and threat to lives was removed.