Fire rages through the slum at Unit-IV in Bhubaneswar. Picture by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, May 2: One person was charred to death after a fire broke out at a slum behind the daily fish market in Unit-IV this afternoon.

Although the exact cause of fire is yet to be ascertained, fire officials suspect that it began after an LPG cylinder suddenly blasted inside a kitchen of one of the houses.

Eyewitnesses said that fire broke out from a house in the area and later spread in the slum. “Though we managed to get out of the house as soon as the fire broke out, all household goods were gutted,” said Tukuna Sahu. Properties worth lakhs were gutted in the fire mishap.

Panic gripped the place as gas cylinders continued to explode during the fire. A few motorcycles were also destroyed in the fire. The deceased Santosh Sahu, 45, was sleeping inside his house when the tragedy struck. As he was not able to come out of his house, he was charred to death.

“We tried to douse the flames with water, but all our efforts went in vein. The fire spread out so quickly that we did not get time to bring our valuables,” said Chagala Jena.

The fire was brought under control within two hours. “Narrow roads made it difficult for us to control the fire. As many as five fire tenders and 30 fire personnel managed to douse the fire,” said Ramesh Chandra Majhi, assistant fire officer, Bhubaneswar.

Slum dwellers alleged that despite their demand to include them in Rajiv Awas Yojana, the civic body so far had not taken any initiatives.

“We have been demanding for pucca houses, but so far nothing has been done. A small fire can also lead to a major tragedy as all our houses are located side by side,” said a slum dweller.

Later, city mayor Ananta Narayan Jena visited the spot and said that temporary sheds would be constructed for the affected families. “Relief materials would be provided and a fresh survey would be conducted to include slum dwellers in Rajiv Awas Yojana,” said Jena.

Earlier in March last year, a fire had broke out at Masjid Colony near Malisahi in Kharavela Nagar. The fire had gutted around 400 houses. However, there was no casualty. Most of the slums in the city are vulnerable towards fire mishap due to presence of hundreds of houses in cramped area.