Saturday, 20 May 2023 | PNS | DEHRADUN
Three Dharmshalas were completely gutted in a fire that started early on Friday morning at a Dhabha near Kali Mandir in Poornagiri area of Champawat district. No pilgrim or local sustained any serious injury in the incident, said BS Bisht, the station house officer (SHO) of Tanakpur. He told The Pioneer that the incident took place in a Dhaba that operates in the vicinity of one of the Dharamshalas in the morning around 9 AM.
Soon after getting the information of the accident, the local police immediately called the fire tenders and State Disaster Response Force to reach the spot to control the fire and recover people inside the buildings. He said that the joint team of fire tenders, police and SDRF first rescued pilgrims stuck in the temple and shifted them to a safe place and subsequently douse the massive fire which could lead to many casualties if it would have been controlled in time. The authorities took nearly two hours to rescue people and douse the fire.
The SHO said that though no person was harmed due to the fire, three Ashrams were completely gutted by the time they were able to douse the fire. On the question of the cause of the fire, Bisht said that in the preliminary investigation, a short circuit in the Dhabha appears to be the cause that led to the massive fire but the police are still investigating other possibilities too.
