Nineteen people were injured when a minor fire broke out at the Kumbh Mela township on Friday. According to mela officer Mani Prasad Misra, the fire broke out at a pandal of Ram Janki Mandir Trust erected in Sector 11 of the Kumbh Mela area and soon engulfed an adjacent tent that belonged to Ram Govind Das Trust.
The fire was brought under control after half-an-hour of fire-fighting though by that time both the tents were gutted.
He said 19 persons, including two women, have suffered burn injuries and those with serious injuries have been admitted to the SRN hospital in Allahabad while the others with minor injuries were being treated at the temporary hospital on the Mela ground. Divisional Commissioner Devesh Chaturvedi told reporters that prima facie, the fire appears to have been caused by leakage in a gas cylinder. The injured persons were devotees who tried to douse the flames. All of then were given first aid immediately. Three fire engines were rushed to the spot and the blaze was brought under control within half an hour. The plywood construction inside the pandal was damaged.
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Jairam to hoist tricolour in maoist land
ANAND S.T. DAS
PATNA, JAN. 25
For Jharkhand’s erstwhile Maoist hotbed of Saranda, a 900-km jungle region in West Singbhum district, the Republic Day this year is going to be very special. Union rural development minister Jairam Ramesh will unfurl the tricolour there to become the first minister to do so.
Ramesh, who has visited Saranda several times and initiated special development projects since this remote region was freed of its long Maoist presence in 2011, will hoist the national flag in at least three different villages, said officials. He reached Jharkhand capital Ranchi on Friday and held a four-hour-long meeting with governor Syed Ahmed and his two advisors, Madhukar Gupta and K. Vijay Kumar, discussing ways to speed up ongoing projects.