Five houses were damaged in an accidental fire, suspected to have been caused by a gas leak from a cylinder, in Halaga village in Belagavi district on Sunday. But no one was injured.
Household items, clothes and books were burnt in the fire. Villagers complained of heavy losses.
The fire started in the house of Nabhiraj Chikkaprappa. Some residents said that the gas that leaked from a domestic gas cylinder caught fire and spread to the wooden items in their houses and then, engulfed a row of houses in the neighbourhood.
Within minutes, the houses of Shantinath and Sunil, Nabhiraj’s relatives and neighbours Vasant Desai and Bharat Desai had caught fire. Local youth called the local police and Fire and Emergency Services personnel who helped douse the fire. Fire tenders from Hire Bagewadi and Belagavi were rushed to the spot.
Anna Saheb Ghorpade, a resident of Halaga, said that the victims needed to be compensated. “We estimate the total losses at around ₹ 1 crore,” he said.
MLA Lakshmi Hebbalkar visited the villages and met the families. She told the women of those families that she would help them get compensation and other benefits from the government.
