Srinagar, Apr 15: Over 30 residential houses were gutted in a major fire that broke-out in Habba Kadal area of Shahr-e-Khaas Friday, police and reports said.
 Witnesses said at around 10:30 AM, the fire broke out from one of the houses at Gadodh Bagh, Babapora and in no time engulfed the nearby houses in this congested area. Some half a dozen people were also wounded in the incident.
 The locals alleged that the firefighters didn’t reach the spot in time or else a lot could have been saved.

THE INCIDENT
 The residents said the fire broke out from a house near the water tank in the Gadodh Bagh Mohalla and in no time spread to other houses. “We immediately called the Fire Service office but it took them time to come,” the locals alleged.
 As the flames could be seen high in the air, people from many adjoining areas rushed to the spot for rescue operations. “This was when some of the people got injured,” said a witness.
 The locals complained that had the authorities kept some Fire Hydrants in place, a lot could have been in saved.
 “Many a time we apprized the authorities to erect some Fire Hydrants in the area and today our worst fears came true through this devastation,” the locals said.
 They said the affected include Ashiq Hussain Dar, Sarwar Hussain Dar, Asgar Dar and Aijaz Ahmed Dar.

THE IRONY
 Even as the people were busy in rescue operations to take out households and other goods from houses under fire, some miscreants had a field day out.
 They managed entry into a house and decamped with jewelry which the owner had kept for his daughters’ marriage.
 “His two daughters’ were scheduled to get married in the coming months and the family had recently procured the jewelry which was lying in the house,” the locals said adding that the miscreants took advantage of the chaos and stole it.
 As for the affected family they were not only mourning the devastation of their house but also the loss by way of the theft.
 “From where will we get back the jewelry,” the family cried as others tried to console them.

OTHER DAMAGES
 As the fire was being doused, the water, as per the locals damaged many adjacent houses.
 “Because of the water some of the houses made of mud bricks collapsed in no time,” said a local.

MOHALLA PRESIDENT SPEAKS
 President Mohalla Committee Chanda  Pora Habba Kadal, Mukhtar Ahmed Wani accused the administration of being callous towards the area.
 “The fire fighters came slow,” he alleged.
 Mukhtar however minced no words to say that the movement of the fire tenders was hindered by the narrow roads.
 “Many a time we asked the authorities to widen the Mohalla roads but they never listened to us,” the president said.
 Wani said there had been no help from the government side for the fire victims.
 “Till now nobody came to our help…may be they will come tomorrow for some political mileage,” he alleged.

OFFICIALS SPEAK
 Some 18 Jumbo Water Tenders of the Fire and Emergency Services Department (FESD) were dousing the flames when the reports last poured in.
 “The fire has been controlled but the locals want that we should continue showering more of water,” said Joint Director FESD, RT Dubey who was personally monitoring the operations.
 The FESD officials said the spread of the fire was prevented by the timely action of the firefighters.
 “Though at least 25 houses were gutted, but the spread of fire was prevented by the timely action of the firefighters as we rushed 18 Jumbo Fire Tenders to the spot,” the FESD Joint Director told Greater Kashmir.

Lastupdate on : Fri, 15 Apr 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Fri, 15 Apr 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Sat, 16 Apr 2011 00:00:00 IST