SHIMLA, APR 18,
A massive fire broke out in Kashani village of Rohru Tehsil in anterior Shimla district gutting more than 50 houses early morning on Wednesday.
Majority of the houses were made up of local Deodar wood and were too vulnerable to resist such a conflagration. There are no reports of casualties but property and houses worth crores were gutted in the fire. About 110 kms from the district headquarters, the village is nestled in the apple rich belt of interior Shimla. About 40 odd families are now rendered homeless.
Electric short circuit in one of the houses is believed to be reason that engulfed the village, said Rajinder Singh, a former president of the Tikker Panchayat and resident of Kashani village. Majority of the cow sheds and temporary stores made up of pure timber were also reduced to ashes.
Due to poor connectivity, fire service from Rohru and Shimla couldn’t reach the village until 7 a.m. Some permanent RCC structures in between the fire-line helped in checking the spread of flames further, according to eye witnesses.
Expressing shock on the incident Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur has assured all sorts of help to the affected families and has deputed his cabinet members and senior leader of the area Suresh Bhardwaj to take stock of the situation along with the district DM and SP. The affected families have been given ?10,000 each and ration as an immediate measure of relief and arrangements are being made for their stay in nearby government buildings.
