Excelsior Correspondent
KATHUA, Feb 13: A major fire broke out in hilly tehsil Bani and more than 12 houses gutted in it . The fire broke out at village Chandel in Morha Gaiur of Bani this afternoon. The cause of fire is not known but the whole mohalla was engulfed in the fire as all the houses were constructed of wood and mud. As the first house caught fire it spread to other houses within no time as the fire tenders were not available in this hilly belt. The SDM Bani, Ajit Singh and local people came forward to defuse the fire but due to lack of fire fighting arrangements in hilly areas they failed to save even a single item in the houses.
However, there was no loss of life as the inmates ran away to safer places soon after the fire broke out .The property including all house hold goods worth several lakhs of rupees was damaged in devastating fire.
The affected families included Gian Chand, Suraj Parkesh, Jai Ram, Isher Dass, Despite Raj, Ramal Singh, Bishan Dass, Jarasand, Mangat Ram, Jagat Ram, Desh Raj and Giano.
MLA Bani Jeevan Lal expressed his deepest sympathy with affected people and asked the Government to make arrangement for providing accommodation to them and release compensation to them also. He asked the Deputy Commissioner, Kathua to distribute the relief among affected people.
The SDM Bani, Ajit Singh along with a rescue team from district administration reached on the spot and supervised the rescue operation. The affected families were given the tents, blankets, utensil and 35 kg ration to each family on the spot. Rs 10000 as exgratia relief will also be given to each family.
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