HASSAN: The rise in the number of fire accidents in various parts of the city, where crackers and kerosene are stored illegally, has created anxiety among the citizens of Hassan.

While the blast at Chippinakatte area, which killed eight persons in May last because of illegal storage of firecrackers, is still fresh in the memory of the people, the recent fire accidents have become a cause for concern.

A garage in Choudeshwari Street in the city was destroyed on Saturday when a nearby shop where kerosene was stored caught fire. The garage was gutted and a worker sustained burns in the accident. A few days ago, another garage was gutted when the kerosene inside its storeroom caught fire. A house in Hosline Road was burnt six months ago because a large quantity of kerosene was kept there, according to the police.

A senior police officer told The Hindu that the hoarders are aware that storing kerosene without valid licence is illegal. "Despite our efforts, we could not contain it because of political intervention," he said.

Adulteration

Sources in the Police Department said adulteration of kerosene is rampant in some parts of the city. The vendors add chemicals to kerosene and sell it to autorickshaw drivers as fuel.

This fuel comes at a much cheaper price than petrol.

Rajappa, a resident of Santhepet, says the area is full of petty shops that sell adulterated kerosene to autorickshaw drivers.

Most of the authorickshaws hired by drivers are run on this fuel.

"We are worried as we do not know when a shop will catch fire. Nine barrels of kerosene caught fire in Saturday's incident.

Where was the need for a garage owner to store that much of fuel?," he asked.

Although garage owners claim that they need petrol and kerosene to clean the spare parts, they cannot explain reasons for keeping stock of barrels of petrol and kerosene in their establishments.

Cause for fire

Meanwhile, the police said short-circuit is one of the reasons for the rising number of fire accidents.

According to Food and Civil Supplies Department, excepting fair price shops, which are authorised to sell kerosene to below the poverty line cardholders, nobody is authorised to store kerosene. Authorised dealers of petroleum companies can store white <129>kerosene to a limited extent, they said.

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