Thirty-eight shanties were gutted after a suspected explosion in an LPG cylinder triggered a fire that spread through the entire colony along EM Bypass in Anandapur on Sunday morning.
More than 140 occupants of Shramik Pally — young and old — lost their homes and shops in the fire that broke out around 10.55am, police said.
“No one was trapped or injured,” said an officer.
Eleven fire tenders were sent to douse the flames.
Among those who lost their homes are students, professionals, homemakers and elderly people.
Sudip Naiya, who appeared in Madhyamik this year with his brother Pradip, said they have lost “everything”, including their Madhyamik admit cards.
Residents of Sramik pally , near Honda showroom after the fire incident on Sunday morning. Picture by Gautam Bose
Sudip recalled how his neigbour’s house caught fire first.
“My neighbour’s wife does not know how to change an LPG cylinder. She usually calls me for help. Today, she did not call me. I was not at home. After the fire, I learned that she had changed the cylinder by herself. She perhaps could not do it properly. The explosion happened minutes after she had lit the oven and left the kitchen. Possibly the gas was leaking,” Sudip said.
The flames spread across the shanties one after another within a few minutes.
Sudip’s father is a driver and mother a homemaker.
Like Sudip, hundreds of people who stayed in the colony are uncertain when they would be able to rebuild their homes.
Subrata Purkait, who works as a milkman in the morning and as a painter during the rest of the day, said he has no clue where he would stay now with his wife and two young children.
“It is very unfortunate that for the callousness of one family, the entire colony is suffering. We all are homeless today,” Purkait said.
His 14-year-old daughter and six-and-a-half-years-old son have lost all their books.
The local councilor (Ward 108) of the Calcutta Municipal Corporation, Susanta Ghosh, said they have made makeshift arrangements with bamboo poles and tarpaulin sheets, not far from the fire-ravaged colony, where the residents of the 38 affected shanties will be relocated.
“We have provided each family with a kit containing daily essentials like utensils, mosquito nets etc. We are supplying them with food thrice a day and will take care of them,” Ghosh said.
Senior fire department officials and the disaster management and civil defence minister, Javed Khan, visited the spot.