The Hindu : Karnataka News : Fire leaves many devastated in Mandya

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Wednesday, Mar 05, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka

Fire leaves many devastated in Mandya

Muralidhara Khajane

HELPLESS: Pungavva searching for lost valuables at where her hut once stood in the Tamil Colony in Mandya on Tuesday.

MANDYA: Every effort of her neighbours to console 65-year-old Shantamma failed as the devastating fire that broke out in the Tamil Colony in Mandya on Monday has shattered her dream of getting her daughter married. “I had kept jewellery, cash and silk clothes in the house, as my daughter’s marriage had been fixed. But the ‘cruel’ flames swallowed them along with my dreams. What will I do now?” asks Shanthamma with tears falling from her eyes.

Forty-eight-year-old Pungamma’s few bags of ragi were not spared either.

Looking at his charred house, polio-affected Satish (19) asks, “Where will I go now?” For the time being there is no answer to his question.

The plight of many dwellers of the colony is no different. Every one of them has a story to tell. The fire has devastated their lives. Even the new Vice-President of the Mandya City Municipal Council Ramesh has also lost his house in the incident.

Over 5,000 people were rendered homeless as the uncontrollable fire has razed more than 500 huts in the colony. There were heartrending scenes. The residents, who spent the night in rehabilitation centres, reached their colony in the morning and started raking ashes to salvage their belongings. However, they were disappointed, as the fire had not shown mercy on them.

Labourers who came to Karnataka from Tamil Nadu during the construction of the Krishnarajasagar Reservoir in 1911 settled in the Tamil Colony of Mandya. The residents call themselves Kannadigas and have supported the State’s stand in the Cauvery water dispute.

“Our attempts to contact the fire brigade failed, as there was no one to lift the phone at the other end. Finally, a few youths went to the fire station and informed the personnel about the fire accident. The authorities sent a fire tender to the spot, which failed in dousing the fire,” said Ramasami (56). However, it is significant to note that autorickshaw drivers joined hands in dousing the fire and helped shift the residents to safety. “The timely arrival of fire tender would have saved at least 100 houses,” says Murugan. He sought to know what stopped the authorities from sending fire tenders.

However, refuting the allegations, Fire Station Officer Puttaiah told The Hindu that the first fire tender failed in dousing fire as it had only 4,500 litres of water. The other available fire tender was sent to H. Malliegere. Before additional fire tenders from Maddur and Mysore could be summoned, the people attacked the fire tenders.

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