Fire ravages another factory in Ludhiana, losses pegged at ₹70L
LUDHIANA : Panic gripped Daulat Nagar Colony near Basti Jodhewal when a fire broke out at a textile factory this afternoon. So intense was the blaze that it caused extensive damage to the adjacent buildings. People were seen throwing bales of yarn and cotton out of the unit to check spread of the blaze even as the fire officials struggled for four hours to douse the flames. However, no one was injured in the incident. The losses have been pegged at more than ₹70 lakh.
On the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday, three members of a Nepalese family, including an eight-year old-girl, were killed in a fire that broke out at the godown of a wool factory near Cheema Chowk.
The fire broke out at about 1.30 pm at RNG Textiles when a machine was being offloaded from a truck. The area witnessed a power cut and generator was switched on. The machine rubbed against a generator wire, leading to a short circuit that triggered the fire.
Factory workers tried to put sand on the flames as an emergency measure but that did not work and it spread fast to an area where yarn and other material was lying. “We even put wet cloths over the flames but that didn’t help as the fire had engulfed cartons of yarn and cotton,” said Jatinder, an employee of the factory.
All workers left the premises to save their lives and firefighters reached the spot in 20 minutes. Eight fire tenders turned up, five from the city and one each from Phagwara, Khanna and Samrala.
A large number of factory workers and commuters stopped on the national highway along which the factory. Police had to intervene to manage the crowd and make way for fire tenders.
STRUGGLE FOR FIREFIGHTERS
Congested lanes and haphazard constructions again came in the way of firefighters on Saturday. Fire tenders had to use long pipes to douse the flames as there was no space for the vehicles near the factory on fire. Later, cranes were used to break a wall of the factory adjacent to an open ground from where water was showered.
Panic gripped the area as owners of nearby factories started removing the material to safer locations. Heaps of yarn and other raw material were seen in the congested lanes leading to the factory.
Fire officer Rajinder Sharma said: “Eight fire tenders were pressed into service. They went for refilling 25 times to the nearby station. The factory owners says he has lost material worth more than ₹70 lakh.”