Major fire at Kolakta's Salt Lake, dozens of shanties gutted

Kolkata, April 23 A major fire broke out at Kolkata's Salt Lake area on Sunday evening in which around 60 shanties there were totally gutted, leaving potentially hundreds of people homeless. However, no casualties have been reported, officials said.

As of around 10 p.m, the fire at the Falguni Market was yet to be brought under control with 10 fire tenders deployed to tackle the blaze. What added panic in the locality was the bursting of the gas cylinders stored in the shanties one after another.

State Fire Services Minister Sujit Basu and Mayor of Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation Krishna Chakraborty immediately rushed to the spot. Attempts were on to prevent the fire from spreading to the housing complexes adjacent to the shanties which have already been engulfed by the devastating fire.

Locals said that the slum area in Falguni Market area where the fire broke out had over 100 shanties and majority of them have been completely gutted by the devastating fire. However, till the time the report was filed, there was no casualty on this count. "Those who were inside the shanties while the fire broke out have been safely evacuated," a fire officer present at the spot said.

He added that the narrow approach-way to the shanties posed an immense problem for the fire-tenders to reach near the source of fire.

Chakraborty said that the homeless people whose shanties were completely gutted by the fire had been sheltered at a local community hall for the time being. "They have also been provided with food. Alternative arrangement and compensation will be arranged for them," she said.

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