'Illegal factories operating in Bengaluru': BJP demands action after perfume factory fire

Bengaluru: A police case to probe a fire incident in a perfume factory on the outskirts of Bengaluru which claimed three lives triggered a discussion in the Karnataka Assembly on Monday about illegal factories in residential areas of the city.

Invoking the fire incident, which also left five persons injured, the opposition BJP alleged in the Assembly that illegal factories were operating in residential areas in the city posing risk to residents.

According to police in the district headquarters town of Ramanagara --about 50 km from Bengaluru -- the factory was engulfed in flames in Sunday's incident sparking loud explosions which rattled the neighbourhood.

“We have registered a case and started an investigation. The owner of the factory is among the deceased. We have to identify the deceased and injured. We are looking out for the land owner who leased his property to run the factory,” a police officer told PTI.

Yashwanthpur BJP MLA S T Somashekar in the Assembly said that the kin of those killed, and the injured should be given compensation as they were from economically weaker sections of the society.

The Leader of Opposition R Ashoka pointed out that this was the fifth incident in the city in the last few months -- the first one being the major fire tragedy in a cracker warehouse at Attibele Town on Bengaluru outskirts bordering Tamil Nadu.

Ashoka said there were many illegal factories operating in the city in residential areas making those living there vulnerable to such incidents.

Responding to this, Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda said the government will give priority to fire safety mechanisms in Bengaluru.