Pottangi: Plastic pipes, laid by RWSS department for water supply, worth over lakhs of rupees were burnt as a fire broke out on a hill located behind the block office here in Koraput district.
On being alerted, fire brigade personnel reached the site and brought the fire under control. Inhabitants of Gate Sahi, Gopabandhu Colony and Block Colony, who live on the foothill, approached police over the incident and sought compensation from people involved in the case.
According to Totapadia Narasingh, a resident of nearby Badaliguda village, who was collecting firewood when the incident occurred, some unknown persons were making a survey of the hill at that time. One of them lighted his cigarette and left the half-burnt cigarette on the spot. The hill caught fire 10 minutes after their leaving the place. Dry lemon grass first caught fire and it spread to other areas, Narasingh said. Locals detained the vehicle in which the unknown persons visited the place and handed it over to police.
Later, it was learnt that a team of surveyors led by project manager Krushnachandra Sahoo came to the foothill after taking permission of the district collector. Neither he nor any of his team members ever smoked at the site, Sahoo said. Further investigation into the incident is on, the police said.
Rural water supply and sanitation department had laid plastic pipes to supply water to the locality. The approximate cost of the damaged pipe would be over Rs 2 lakhs, junior engineer Basudev Das told the police. PNN
