BHUBANESWAR: As many as 71 families of a slum in the city spent a traumatic day on Tuesday as their houses were first destroyed in fire and later heavy rain made them scurry for cover.

A portion of slum, Shantinagar in the Unit III area, turned to a heap of ashes after the fire, suspected to have been caused by a short-circuit in the morning, burnt down everything, including dresses of children and food material preserved for the emergency.

Fire brigade personnel toiled for three hours to bring the blaze under control by 10 am. Since the jhuggis were erected close to one another, the fire engulfed the houses in no time. The inhabitants were seen frantically digging out the soil to retrieve whatever was left out after the fire.

But more agonising moments were in store for the slum-dwellers.

By the time they were able to overcome the tragedy, there was heavy rain and the slum dwellers had no option but to look for shelter. While the chaos was prevailing, the administration was found wanting.

The Khurda district administration waited for an official letter confirming the fire to react and the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) authorities were looking for private donors to supply relief to the slum dwellers.

Relief

Finally Marwari Yuba Manch came forward to provide polythene and State Red Cross reached with foodgrains.

When contacted, BMC Commissioner Aparajita Sarangi said, "we have already chalked out a plan to provide food materials to affected families and offered them Yatri Niwas to stay for three days."

A couple of NGOs were approached by the BMC to help these people out, she said. As per official information, 168 children and 166 adults were affected by the fire.

The district administration finally sent its officials to disburse Rs 400 for polythene and Rs 100 for dresses per family.

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