JOIN US7 houses gutted in fire mishap
Seven houses at Nanjapur, near here, were gutted in an accidental fire, on Saturday, leaving at least 35 persons — all daily wage labourers — shelterless and causing a total loss of over Rs four lakh. There were no casualties. The cause for the fire is yet to be ascertained.
Even though villagers tried to douse the fire, the houses, including three huts, were reduced to ashes by the time fire tenders arrived from Belur town.
Nanjamma, Shivanna, Hanumanthaiah, Rangaswamy, Sannaiah, Manjaiah and Shekar have lost their houses.
All the occupants, except Santhosh, who had come on leave from Gangavathi, had left for work. However, Santhosh was alerted by villagers and he rushed out of the house.
Wedding plans
Nanjamma and Puttaiah couple had arranged her daughter’s wedding and both her children had saved money for the ceremony. Gold ornaments and Rs 25,000 in cash is lost, Nanjamma said.
“As we had not given much to my daughter, during her wedding, we had bought a pair of ear rings for her as a present. My son Santhosh had brought Rs 10,000 for family needs by working in a bakery in Gangavathi. We lost both along with other household items,” said another victim Sannaiah.
Rangaswamy’s hay stack was also gutted. MLA Y N Rudreshgowda visited the spot and consoled the victims. He said, the victims will be provided temporary shelter and food at the government school.
“Many people in the village are residing in huts and some in old dilapidated houses. Steps will be taken to get houses for them under various housing schemes,” he said.
Tahsildar Jagadish, Sub-Inspector Manju and others visited the victims.