Aruncahal: 38 houses gutted in fire in Itanagar, MLA distributes relief to affected families

More than 38 houses/barracks belonging to State’s PWD and Forest Department were reduced to ashes in a massive fire accident at C-1 Sector Forest Colony of Itanagar Capital of Arunachal Pradesh.

The district administration sources, however, put the figures of destroyed houses at 35, including 26 units of Forest Department and nine units of PWD CD-A barracks.

The devastating fire broke out around 2.30 AM. The fire had reportedly originated from the house of one of the residents located on the lower side of the colony.

There were, however, no reports of any human casualty, official sources said, adding that the exact cause of the inferno was not known yet.

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Even though two fire tenders from Itanagar Fire Station were rushed to the spot the moment after receiving the information and one more was requisitioned from Naharlagun, a senior fire officer said, the fire personnel could not carry out the firefighting task properly due to the non-availability of the approach road. He said that by the time they reached the spot the fire had already engulfed all the dwellings, made of wood/bamboo with CGI sheets.

Though Govt Middle School at C-sector, Itanagar has been identified as a temporary relief camp and arrangements made for the victims to reside there, as directed by local Corporator Yukar Yaro, the affected households preferred to stay nearby their dwellings. Subsequently, the officers from both PWD and Forest Dept have made alternative arrangements for their staffers to stay, DDMO Moromi Dodum Sonam informed.

The Corporator also handed over some immediate relief and essential items, including clothes to the victims on the spot.

On getting the information, local MLA Techi Kaso visited the spot to take stock of the situation. He also handed over some cash from his end for immediate relief of the fire-hit families.

Meanwhile, the fire brigade officer informed that a fire mishap caught early morning & due to the closed gates of Indira Gandhi Park fire brigade reached the spot late. The cause of the fire is still uncertain.

Itanagar Capital Complex DC Talo Potom, who joined his duty on Saturday after completing his training at LBSNAA, Mussoorie, also visited the spot and directed the DDMO to collect the bank account details of the fire victims.

The DC informed that the district administration will process the immediate relief transfer and the same would be credited to the bank accounts of the respective house owners through PFMS mode.