Hundreds of poor people were rendered homeless on a chilly winter evening after a devastating fire reduced their shanties into ashes at Kalikapur off EM Bypass in Kolkata on Sunday. Over 100 shanties were gutted in the fire.
A worried chief minister Mamata Banerjee visited the spot at night and spoke to the homeless and assured them of all kinds of assistance.
She even gave away her shawl to a fireman who was drenched in water after dousing the flames. “I will do everything for you,” the chief minister told the affected, after discussing the situation with state urban development and municipal affairs minister Firhad Hakim and fire and emergency services minister Javed Ahmed Khan for around 15 minutes. She also gave them some instructions for the rehabilitation of the affected.
Ms Banerjee said, “Mr Khan will arrange the tarpaulin, blankets and garments for the homeless on Monday.
The Kolkata Municipal Corporation will assist him.
The civic body will also build the houses for the affected and rehabilitate them, while Mr Hakim will arrange the books for the affected students, including those who will be appearing for Madhyamik. The government will do everything.” She then went to see an injured slum dweller Sanjoy Naskar at a nearby hospital.
Around 25 engines were pressed into service after the raging flames engulfed Kalikapur slum no. 3 at around 6 pm. The disaster management group personnel of the Kolkata police were also deployed. Most slum-dwellers who were inside their shanties during the blaze fled leaving their belongings.
Many were later seen crying outside as their belongings were gutted in the fire. The blaze stalled traffic movements along EM Bypass. At around 8.30 pm, the situation was brought under control.