Inquiry into the Rangpo fire

Gangtok, Oct. 15: Five shops and a school were razed to the ground by a fire at Rangpo bazaar around midnight yesterday. The flames also charred five vehicles and destroyed property in the Sikkim-Bengal border town.

It took five hours for eight fire tenders from Rangpo, Singtam, Gangtok and Kalimpong to bring the flames that began at 11.30pm under control with the assistance of local people and police.

By that time, shops with wooden structures were burnt to ashes. They belonged to Sajan Agarwal, Satya Narayan Prasad, Swaminath Prasad, Rajendra Prasad and Satendra Prasad. The fire also destroyed Little Bells, a private school that teaches from the nursery level to Class VIII.

Fire brigade sources attributed the cause of the fire to electrical short circuit after preliminary investigation. Four nearby houses of Suman Tamang, V. Prasad, Chandra Maya Thatal and Swaminath Prasad were also partially damaged by the fire.

Sikkim’s commerce and industries minister Neeru Sewa, the local MLA who visited the spot after the incident, said she had assured the victims of support and compensation from the state government. “I have directed the block development officer of Duga to submit a report of the damage caused by the fire by this evening,” she said.

The minister asked the school authorities to start classes in the vacant space available in the area.

The victims have demanded a probe into the fire. Sources alleged that the shops-cum-residences of the five families were on rented premises and recently some misunderstanding had arisen between them and the owner.

The government has ordered an inquiry into the fire. Shops were closed in Rangpo today to show solidarity with those who have lost their property