Morung Express News
Dimapur / January 23
A DEVASTATING fire broke out early evening around 4: 30 pm today at D-Colony, Half Nagarjan, which is adjunct to the Railway Station leaving one person dead and around 70 houses/hutments razed to the ground as well as leaving an estimated hundred families homeless.
Residents said that one aged man who was reportedly bed-ridden due to sickness died in the massive fire as he was left behind when the inferno spread. Also, several people were injured by shrapnel and airborne projectiles when 5 gas cylinders exploded at intermittent intervals. The fire, lasting till 6: 15 pm and in which more than Rs 12 Lakhs worth of property-loss is being estimated, started reportedly from a house belonging to one Shankar, a tea vendor at Ghorrapati. Most constructions at D- Colony are made either of bamboo and thatch. There are about 300 hutments in the colony, and occupied mostly by non-local laborers and Bangladeshi immigrants.
Although the Dimapur Fire Department on receiving information, promptly responded to the situation the fire could not be bought under control in time for reason that the locality has no inlets or passageways with every house virtually knitted to the next. A fire vehicle was pressed into service but could not penetrate the congested colony and got stuck in a deep trench between two houses while the fire raged. Another douser was called in by officials present at the spot to put out the raging fire. The douser which got stuck was later pulled out by a recovery van. It is may be mentioned that there are no passageways even big enough for a small car leading into the main site of the fire.
Meanwhile, the Deputy Commissioner of Dimapur Nzimongo Ngullie, who was present at the site, told The Morung Express that basic relief aid would be provided to the victims. “Because it was dark we could not estimate the damage. Basic items would be given to those affected. We will make all possible arrangement that the victims are provided with basic relief,” Ngullie assured. To the query if compensatory aid be granted, Ngullie said that house owners would be first identified and see what could be done later. Dimapur Municipal Council Chairman Vikheho Awomi also said that basic essentials should be provided.
“The DC and I have been discussing about the need to provide first-hand aid to them. We will make arrangements soon” said Awomi. He also lamented there was no sense of locality and town planning. “As long as there are no town planning such kind of things will keep on happening” he said. Senior police officials and a deployment of IRB personnel were placed at the site to prevent looting or any likened instance of unrest.
Residents opined that the houses caught fire and spread rapidly because there was virtually no space to allow better mobility in rescue operation. The number of houses razed in the fire remains uncertain but residents totaled it at around 50 to 60, while the GRPS estimated around a hundred.
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