Bhaderwah, May 19: Property worth lakhs was reduced to ashes after three residential mud houses belonging to tribal Gujjar families were gutted in a blaze in Doda on Friday.
While confirming the incident, SDPO Gandoh Adil Rishu said that three residential house were destroyed in the blaze in Dhadkai area of Gandoh Sub Division.
The fire reduced houses into ashes leaving three tribal families homeless.
The fire erupted at 1:00 AM and within short span of time, houses belonging to three brothers were reduced to ashes despite the locals who rushed to the scene to extinguish the flames. However with hectic efforts by the locals, adjoining houses were saved.
“There were three families living in adjoining houses, including Jamat Ali, Lal Hussain and Mohd Israel, who have become completely homeless,” SDPO informed.
SSP Doda, Abdul Qayoom said that as soon as the local people got the news, hundreds of people tried to control the fire, but the fire was so intense that the entire house was engulfed in flames.
“We have registered a case regarding this accident and the report will be submitted to DC, so that process for compensation should be processed at the earliest,” SSP added.
BDC chairman Gandoh Mohd Hanief said that after getting an alarm regarding fire incident, all people reached the spot to douse the fire with their local resources.
He said that with hectic efforts of locals, the fire was controlled and other adjoining housed were saved.
He informed that due to unavailability of road connectivity to the village, the rescue teams faced significant delays in reaching the affected area, resulting in the fire spreading uncontrollably.
“The lack of road infrastructure has proven to be a major hurdle in dealing with emergencies effectively,” the chairman added.
The people expressed their concern over the incident and emphasized the urgent need for the district administration to address the road accessibility issue promptly. They called for immediate action to prevent similar tragedies in the future and ensure timely aid to distressed communities.
They also appealed to the district administration to provide them with immediate relief.