50 huts damaged in Saidapet slum fire

By Our Staff Reporter

CHENNAI, AUG. 20. Five residents of a slum colony in Saidapet sustained injuries in a fire that destroyed about 50 huts on Monday morning. The injured included a 75-year-old person, three children and a woman.

According to police, a heap of garbage caught fire at about 11 a.m. at one corner of Setti Thottam on Alandur Salai. Aided by a strong wind, the fire quickly spread across the colony, destroying the thatched huts.

The visibly agitated slum dwellers, however, suspected foul play. They alleged that members of a political party were responsible for the fire, owing to a recent dispute. The residents claimed they had even alerted the police about the dispute and had sought protection.

Many of the slum dwellers were away at work when the fire occurred, but said some residents had spotted ``strangers'' entering the colony.

Their suspicions were aroused as some of the destroyed huts were far removed from the source of the fire and, according to them, occurred over a period of time. Some of the huts destroyed in the fire were on the terraces of regular houses.

Six tenders were pressed into service, but hindered by the inaccessible roads inside the slum, it took about three hours to douse the fire, Fire Service department sources said.

The team was led by the Deputy Director, Mr. M. Swamidurai, and the Divisional Fire Officer, Mr. M. Jeevanandam. The injured were treated at the Saidapet Corporation Hospital.

Though the Police and Fire Service departments put the number of destroyed huts at about 50, a Government release issued later stated the number at 150.

Mr. O. Panneerselvam, Revenue Minister, and Mr. A. K. Selvaraj, Housing and Urban Development Minister, visited the area, the statement added.

In another incident, about 40 huts were destroyed in a fire at R.K.Nagar in V.O.C.Nagar.

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