Around 30 homes and hutments were destroyed and 300 or so people were left homeless when a fire broke out on Saturday night in Rana Busty and Khudiram Colony, two areas of Siliguri’s ward 18.
Officials from the local municipal organisation and the Siliguri Fire Station believe the fire was unintentional. No fatalities or significant injuries have been linked to the fire.
The incident has also caused the Trinamul-run Siliguri Municipal Corporation (SMC) to call a conference the following week to assess the situation in the city’s 150 slums in order to take precautions against similar accidents.
In the packed neighbourhood, a kitchen caught fire at around 7:15 p.m., consuming hutments and dwellings. Additionally, it was challenging for the firefighters to manoeuvre fire trucks into the tiny byways, so they had to find other ways to put out the flames. According to locals, many people lost any gold and money they may have had in the fire.
Bachhu Das, a resident of Rananbusty, stated, “We hardly got any chance to carry away our things and critical items as the blaze spread swiftly in the neighbourhood.”
The fire was contained and extinguished in around three hours, according to the firemen, who claimed to have utilised seven fire engines.
“We are investigating to find out what started the fire. As there were weak electrical wirings in certain hutments, we assume it spread from a kitchen or from an electrical short circuit, according to a source in the state fire services department.
The mission of enhancing slum infrastructure will be undertaken, according to deputy mayor Ranjan Sarkar.
“The slums were ignored by the previous civic boards. I’ve scheduled a meeting for November 24 to talk about slum development. To avert such tragedies, some of these include upgrading the water supply, drainage systems, and roads, according to Sarkar.
According to a preliminary investigation following the incident, 31 homes were completely destroyed, and some more were partially destroyed. There are about 300 homeless persons. An estimated Rs. 50 lakh has been lost. On Monday, a copy of the report would be delivered to the district magistrate of Darjeeling, according to an SMC representative.
Mili Sinha, the municipal organization’s borough-III chair, claimed that the affected families had been given temporary housing.
“As authorised by mayor Gautam Deb, relief supplies, such as blankets, bedsheets, and utensils, have been given to them. Many organisations have lent a helping hand to the community by offering food and other supplies, the speaker noted.
