Bengaluru:
In an accidental fire that broke out on the premises of a plastic waste shredder unit in Gangondanahalli, near Nayandahalli 26 auto rickshaws and one car were gutted in the wee hours of Friday. Fortunately, no one was injured in the fire accident.
The fire call came at 1.57 a.m. and five fire tenders were rushed to the spot, the fire was brought under control after hours of fire fighting, sources in the Fire and Emergency Services said.
The plastic waste shredder unit is owned by one Rizwan and the premises was also let out for parking auto rickshaws, goods vehicles, and several pushcarts for a charge of ₹30 per night, sources said.
The plastic waste was also strewn around on the premises and the fire is suspected to have started due to an electric short circuit in the shed and soon spread to the plastic waste in the compound and the vehicles parked there. “Many goods autos and pushcarts were also filled with vessels, plastic items, and even plastic waste. This added to the fire and made firefighting a challenge,” a senior fire fighter said.
Mahesh, a local resident told media persons that the fire started at around 1.45 a.m. and in no time spread to the entire compound. “Some of us rushed inside and brought out some auto rickshaws and parked them some distance away. But we could not save many auto rickshaws,” he said, adding all auto rickshaws and pushcarts are of poor people who parked them inside the compound for a charge in the night.
Shantamma, whose husband’s auto rickshaw was gutted in the fire, was inconsolable. “That auto rickshaw was the only lifeline we had and that is gone now,” she broke down speaking to media. Another person said he sold plastic items in an autorickshaw and now both the vehicle and the goods were gutted and he had suffered a loss of over ₹50,000 apart from the vehicle. He appealed to authorities to provide compensation to those who suffered losses in the accident.
