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Bengal

Habra: Fire at shanties doused after about 4 hrs

KOLKATA: At least 150 people became homeless after a major fire broke out at shanties beside the railway track in Habra of North 24-Parganas on Wednesday afternoon.

Six fire tenders doused the flames after almost four hours.

According to local people, around 4:30 pm on Wednesday, fire broke out in a shanty beside the railway track. The area known as 'rail bustee' is a congested area and thus the fire spread to other shanties within a few moments.

Initially three fire tenders were pressed into action but later three more were sent after the fire had taken a devastating shape.Meanwhile for the safety of the passengers and to avert any untoward incident, train services were suspended by the Eastern Railway (ER).

Train services got suspended in two phases due to the fire incident and a blockade put up by local people. In the first phase train services were disrupted from 5:05 pm to 6:15 pm. In the second phase, services disrupted for blockade from 6:46 pm to 7:16 pm.

Ekalavya Chakraborty, Chief Public Relation Officer (CPRO) of ER informed that around four suburban trains were cancelled due to the disruption while several trains were delayed.

Meanwhile, Habra Municipality has arranged a makeshift camp at the Habra Model High School to accommodate those affected due to the fire incident.

Narayan Chandra Saha, Chairman of Habra Municipality said: "We have arranged a camp for the affected. Food, garments and other necessary things have also been arranged for them." State Forest minister Jyoti Priya Mallick, who is also the MLA of Habra, is scheduled to visit the camp on Thursday. Sources informed that the municipality will make necessary arrangements for setting up huts in place of the shanties that were gutted. However, Mallick is expected to announce the decision

on Thursday.

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