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Government pledges help to all whose house were gutted
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LOCALCORRESPONDENT on 11 March, 2008 11:20:00
 
The West Bengal government on Monday offered "every kind of assistance" to the
people of Panchanna Gram slum area whose houses were reduced to ashes in a
devastating fire last night. Minister Kanti Ganguly, Mayor Bikas Ranjan
Bhattacharya and CPI (M) leader Robin Deb assured all possible assistance to 600
people who were rendered homeless in the fire after visiting the slum in the
southern fringes of the city on the day.
"It is our priority to provide the homeless with food and shelter and only then
we can think of other forms of assistance. The injured have been provided
medical help," Mayor Bikas Ranjan Bhattacharya who visited the area today said.
Apart from providing food to nearly 4000 people, the government has set up four
relief camps to accomodate the homeless until an alternative arrangement was
made, he said.
"A medical van worked throughout the night so that the injured could get first
aid," Deb said. A devastating fire destroyed nearly 600 shanties in the slum
area yesterday.
Eighteen fire tenders were rushed to the densely- populated Panchanna Gram at
VIP market area on E M Bypass yesterday to douse the fire which broke out in a
house and then engulfed most of the shanties.
A devastating fire has gutted about 600 shanties in east Kolkata, causing huge
damage to a large number of people who were rendered homeless and lost all their
belongings.
No casualty was reported as about 15 fire engines controlled the blaze on
Sunday night after fighting the flames for nearly five hours.
Fire brigade sources said the blaze started in a slum at Panchanna Gram and
razed about 600 hutments in a few hours.
The probable cause was a gas cylinder explosion.
The fire, which broke out at about 6.30 pm, spread quickly among the bamboo
huts with thatched roofs.
"We have lost everything. A huge quantity of garments that we sew and supply to
boutiques and stores were destroyed. We are devastated," said a resident,
wailing uncontrollably.
Senior politicians and some state ministers supervised the fire control
operation.