Kolkata: A fire in a slum next to the railway tracks behind BP Poddar Hospital in New Alipore burnt down 70 shanties, leaving 450-odd residents homeless. Nineteen fire engines battled the blaze with many training water hoses from the adjoining Durgapur Bridge. While traffic was suspended on the bridge to enable fire-fighting operations, train services on the Sealdah-Budge Budge line was suspended for nearly an hour and a half as the flames leapt close to the tracks. No casualties or injuries were reported.
Residents of the area said the fire was spotted around 6.30 pm. By 7 pm, the flames had engulfed the entire slum and the area was covered in thick smoke. Firefighters feared the flames, fueled by the inflammable materials in the area, could spread to nearby buildings, including BP Poddar Hospital and a market complex. As loud sounds of explosions filled the air, the firemen said it could be from gas cylinders bursting. Officials are yet to confirm the reason behind the fire. A probe has been initiated. “The fire started from under the bridge and spread to shanties on both sides of the bridge,” said a fire officer.
Most residents of the slum are daily wage earners, many of whom were at their home from work, while some were taking their kids to tuition when the fire broke out. As the news spread, residents rushed back to save their families and homes. Although none was trapped, almost nothing could be saved. “I have stayed here for 11 years. Everything burnt down before my eyes. I tried to save my stuff but I started having breathing difficulties. It was only when a neighbor shouted, telling me to leave that I realized the entire colony was on fire. ,” said a resident, Shampa Haldar. “I almost suffocated when I tried to retrieve my Aadhaar card and my daughter’s books. I do not even have a shawl.”
Gopal Haldar, a first-year college student who used to study at the adjoining New Alipore Multipurpose School, was distraught. “I valued my HS certificate. It’s gone now,” he said. Many of the residents will be lodged at the school for the time being.
Initially, the residents themselves had tried to extinguish the fire. Later, firefighters arrived and 16 fire engines were dispatched. Ministers Arup Biswas and Firhad Hakim also reached. Army personnel from the New Alipore camp joined the fire-fighting operation with three fire engines and chemical extinguisher balls.
Though no life was lost, the blaze disrupted the evening rush-hour traffic, both on the road and on the tracks. Long queues of vehicles were reported till Agri-Horticultural Society of India in Alipore. Traffic police said Durgapur Bridge would stay shut till the cooling exercise was over, which could be well past midnight.
A day earlier, a fire had broken out in a slum in Topsia. The back-to-back blazes at slums within 24 hours prompted mayor Firhad Hakim to say the recurring fires in shanties needed to be investigated. “Something is definitely happening. It needs to be probed. Perhaps fires were being lit inside for warmth, which could be causing the blaze.” Hakim also mentioned that the shanties were illegal. “They are on railway land. It’s not possible to say how many people live there,” he said. Minister Arup Biswas said, “I am not an expert but I commend the locals for helping out. The real cause for the fire will be ascertained.”