Udupi: Several Huts Engulfed in Fire at Chitpady
Hemanath Padubidri
Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi (SP)
With Inputs from Shubhalakshmi
Udupi, Apr 20: A hutment of construction labourers from North Karnataka, which exists on a land belonging to a person named Radhakrishna in Chitpady near Hanuman Garage in the town, caught fire at around 10.25 am on Friday April 20. The fire destroyed houses belonging to ten labourers.
At the said spot, 15 shed-like huts built out of easily available materials like wooden poles, plastic sheets, coconut fronds etc, exist. It is said that the vacant land was allotted to these labourers by the land owner on a monthly rental of Rs 300 each, and the huts were built by the occupants themselves. The fire, which was ignited by unknown sources, spread soon because of the highly combustible nature of materials used for building these huts.
But for the timely intervention of the fire brigade, all the 15 huts would have been reduced to ashes.
As children of these families were away at their hometowns on account of summer vacation, and elders were busy at their workplaces, no one was injured.
However, all the valuables including clothes, cooking items, some ornaments, provisions, bicycles, documents, and a couple of two-wheelers, were burnt down. While male members of these families are engaged in construction duties like centering work, the ladies work as housemaids or as attendants or cleaners at hotels. The actual loss in the tragedy is yet to be estimated.
The names of those who lost their habitats are Sangappa, Nagaraja, Yamunappa, Sidramappa, Parashuram, Siddu, Yamunappa, Savita, Ramappa, and Maruti. All of them hail from Bagalokot and Badami.
The cause of the fire has not yet been ascertained, but it is suspected that kitchen fire from one of the huts might have spread.
The cocunut trees around the area have also been charred.
It is said that in one of the houses, gold and Rs 30,000 in cash were burnt. A motorcycle in another house too was damaged.