As if the discomfort of the heat left by Tuesday’s inferno was not enough, residents of Hosaguddadahalli, off Mysuru Road, also spent the night in darkness since the authorities turned off the power supply to facilitate safety operations.
The large ball of fire emanated from a chemical warehouse damaged five buildings and gutted their belongings. That apart, the fire also reduced five cars, one Tempo Traveller, two motorbikes and an adjacent plastic warehouse to ashes.
Prasanna, who lives next door to the warehouse, received a call from the neighbours and rushed to the area. He found the place engulfed by thick smoke and fire. Police did not allow him to enter the street. When he managed to reach his house and opened the main door, he found flames leaping at all corners and alerted the fire and emergency personnel busy dousing the blaze at the warehouse.
Prasanna said he lost Rs 80,000 in cash, jewellery, furniture and clothes. He had built the house just seven years ago taking a bank loan. Now, he found the roof of the building collapsing. Both Prasanna and his sister Savitha were not at home during the accident. Mani, another resident closer to the fire, said the flames totally charred the furniture he bought for his daughter’s wedding and stored on his terrace. He had taken loan for the wedding, but now he lost everything to the fire.
BBMP Commissioner N Manjunatha Prasad, who visited the site, said there was no provision to compensate the victims of such mishaps and that the losses must be recovered only from the culprits. “We’ll examine if the victims can be compensated under the Disaster Management Act,” he added.