Narsinghpur: Properties worth over Rs 1 crore were gutted and 70 rooms destroyed after a massive fire swept through Chasabarabati village under Champeswar panchayat of this block in Cuttack district Sunday.
Villagers claimed an electric short-circuit to be the cause of the fire while the actual reason is yet to be ascertained. The inferno destroyed 70 rooms of 38 families including furniture, paddy and rice stocks, cash and other household articles.
The total loss is estimated to be over Rs 1 crore, Champeswar revenue inspector Bijay Sahu said. A pall of gloom descended on the village as the cries of villagers rent the air. The villagers are yet to receive any aid till the report was filed.
The incident occurred at about 1 pm when the villagers were inside their houses due to heat wave. People failed to retrieve their belongings as the blaze leaped from one house to another in no time, former sarpanch Bipin Bihari Nayak said.
The villagers hurriedly untied their cattle and ran helter-skelter to save their lives. On being informed, a fire tender from Balijhari rushed to the spot but failed to contain the blaze.
Later, two additional fire tenders from Badamba and Narsinghpur were pressed into service following which the fire was brought under control.
Kirtan Nayak, a villager, said he has lost everything in the fire as his only earning source, a grocery shop, was destroyed.
He said he can never make good of his losses and has to start from the scratch. Several other villagers recounted similar tales when this correspondent visited the village. The fire victims were seen living with their children under the open sky while many searching for their belongings in their burnt houses. Residents demanded immediate supply of polythene sheets, cooked food and house building assistance to them. PNN
