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123 shanties gutted as fire rages through slum in Uttarakhand’s Haldwani
Scores of labourers were left homeless after a fire raged through a slum cluster destroying around 125 slum hutments near a river bank in Haldwani in Uttarakhand on Friday, police said
Scores of labourers were left homeless after a fire raged through a slum cluster destroying around 125 slum hutments near a river bank in Haldwani in Uttarakhand on Friday, police said.
Rohitash Singh, senior sub inspector at Lalkuan police station said the fire was reported at the Mota Haldu Goula river’s mining gate on Friday morning around 11:45 am.
“No one was injured in the incident, but more than 125 hutments were completely razed in the fire incident,” he said.
“We immediately informed the fire safety department and helped mining labourers to escape to a safer place” he said.
The site of the fire is about 20 km from Haldwani town. A fire engine reached the spot an hour later and extinguished the fire but by then more than 125 huts were gutted.
The labourers are engaged in removing stones from the riverbed.
Hariom Giri, a labourer who lost his hut in the fire, said “We demand that the Uttarakhand government make arrangements for our food and shelter till we manage something on our own.”
