Odisha: Flower Shop At Ram Mandir In Bhubaneswar Gutted In Major Fire

Bhubaneswar: A flower shop in the premises of the iconic Ram Mandir in the Capital City was gutted in a major fire on Monday.

According to reports, the fire broke out at around 4 pm and is still to be doused. Though the exact reason is not known yet, eye witnesses said an electrical short circuit could have caused the mishap.

Two fire tenders are being used to douse the flames. Flowers and gift items worth lakhs of rupees have been reduced to ashes in the fire.

“We noticed smoke emanating from the shop at around 4 pm. At that time fire had spread to the whole shop and we were helpless,” said an eyewitness.

Others blamed the fire brigade for their delay in arriving at the spot which they said caused extensive damage to the shop.

“Though we called the nearby fire station in time, they reached one and half hour late. One of the fire tenders even ran out of water during the crucial fire fighting operations and the reinforcement reached the spot very late. The situation could have been dangerous as all the shops situated in the temple premises are located close to each other,” said another eyewitness.

The fire fighting operation were on when the report was filed.

Earlier last night, machineries, electricity tools and other industrial instruments worth lakhs had been reduced to ashes after a fire broke out at the Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP).

The incident took place following a sudden outburst of slag boiler at Steel Melting Shop (SMS)-II of the plant. Fire immediately engulfed the nearby areas including the control room of slag boiler. The room was completely burnt in the mishap and machines installed inside the room and other instruments were also gutted.