Property worth crores gutted in Vedic Village fire, none hurt
12 fire tenders battle for eight hours, guests moved to safety, Fire minister Sujit Bose takes stock of situation
Kolkata: A major fire broke out at the Vedic Village resort in Rajarhat on Monday night. A big portion of the resort was damaged due to impact of the inferno. It is said property worth crores reduced to ashes but no one was hurt in the incident.
Twelve fire tenders doused the flames almost after battling for about eight hours.
According to sources, Vedic Village resort authorities claimed that around 10 pm, on Monday, a lightning struck the cottages, which were made of hay.
In no time the fire started spreading fast because of the strong winds. At the first, the staff members of Vedic Village tried to control the fire by arranging water from their underground reservoir. But as the intensity of the fire was high, they were not able to control the inferno.
Immediately, the fire brigade and the Rajarhat police station was informed.
Soon, five fire tenders were pressed into action. Later, seven more fire tenders were called in as the intensity of the fire was increasing. It is alleged when the fire started media personnel, who went to cover the incident, and a few firefighters were not allowed to get into the resort. Later, the police intervened and resolved the matter. Question arises if the Vedic Village authorities had no flaw on their part, why the media and fire fighters were restricted.
A source informed that the reception, godown and the office burnt into ashes as these structures were made of hay.
Though the Vedic Village authorities claimed that the fire broke out due to lightning but the actual cause is yet not confirmed.
It is suspected that fire had occurred due to a short circuit.
Within an hour, the fire took a bad shape as it raged up to almost 25 feet. Guests in the cottages and the residents of various apartments within 100 metres got panic-stricken due to intensity of the fire. All the guests were evacuated and taken to a safe place.
Later, fire minister Sujit Bose went to the spot and supervised the firefighting operation.
According to Bose, it is not clear if any firefighting measures or license were in place at the resort.
Around 3 am, on Tuesday, the fire was brought under control. Later, cooling process went on till early morning. Till Tuesday night no complaint was lodged by the Fire department. The cause of fire is yet to be ascertained.
