Massive fire in clothing market in Bengal's Howrah district
Howrah (WB) (PTI): A massive fire broke out at Mangala Haat, one of the largest garment markets in eastern India, here in West Bengal's Howrah district in the early hours of Friday, police said.
No casualty has been reported so far, a senior officer said.
Many wholesale and retail cloth shops in the market, where textiles are traded, were burnt to ashes.
"It is not yet known how the fire started. Initially, 12 fire tenders were pressed into service. Later six more were engaged in dousing the blaze," the police officer said.
The blaze is nearly under control, a fire department official said.
The amount of damage is expected to be several lakhs of rupees.
Howrah Police Station is close to Mangala Haat. Policemen informed the fire brigade about the incident noticing flames at around 1 am.
The fire spread quickly as the shops made of bamboo and wood were full of large quantities of clothes. The fire department official said the blaze spread over an area of about 5,000 square feet.
Police personnel in large numbers have been deployed in the area, around one and a half kilometres from the Howrah railway station.
Traders reached the spot and demanded the intervention of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for their rehabilitation.
"The market was gutted earlier in 1987. We faced a hard time to reorganise things. We have lost everything once again. The chief minister should intervene," one of the traders said.
West Bengal | Massive fire breaks out in Howrah, 12 fire tenders at the spot. Further details awaited pic.twitter.com/JWljfn8tGR
— ANI (@ANI) July 20, 2023
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Two women died, 6 taken ill after ‘consuming’ mango kernel gruel in Odisha
Bhubaneswar/Berhampur/Phulbani, Nov 1: At least two tribal women died and six others fell ill after allegedly consuming mango kernel gruel in Odisha's Kandhamal district, police said on Friday.
Consumption of mango kernel, prepared by boiling the seeds in water, was reported from Mandipanka village in the district's Daringbadi block, an officer said.
While one of the two women (Rasmita Pattamajhi aged 22) died on Thursday night at Mohana community health centre in Gajapati district where she was undergoing treatment after "consuming the gruel", another woman (Runu Majhi aged 29) breathed her last while being taken to MKCG Medical College Hospital in Berhampur, Gadapur sarpanch Kumari Mallick said.
Six others, who fell ill after allegedly consuming the gruel, were admitted to a hospital and their condition was critical, said Dr Subrat Das, a medical officer of the health facility.
"All the six have been admitted to the hospital in a serious condition. We suspected that they fell sick due to food poisoning. The exact cause of the illness will be ascertained after completion of the investigation," he added.
The six were identified as Pravati Patmajhi, Dranglu Patmajhi, Tuni Majhi, Susama Patmajhi, Jita Majhi and Jibanti Majhi, Daringbadi BDO Pritiranjan Ratha said.
Meanwhile, the Odisha government has rejected allegations that tribal people have been consuming mango kernel gruel due to a lack of access to rice under the Public Distribution System (PDS).
Rasmita's husband Anil Pattamajhi alleged that they were denied rice under PDS for the last three months because of which his wife consumed mango kernel.
However, Kandhamal district magistrate-cum-collector Amrit Ruturaj dismissed the allegations, saying the family received rice according to PDS norms. "We are awaiting the postmortem report to determine the facts," the collector added.
Deputy chief minister Pravati Parida, who is also in-charge of the women and child development department said, "It is not a case of malnutrition. Mango kernel is part of their (tribal) regular diet. Sometime, the mango kernels get contaminated and lead to such unfortunate incidents. We have been actively spreading awareness about the risks of food contamination."
Health and family welfare minister Mukesh Mahaling, who ordered a departmental inquiry into the death of two tribal women, said a team from the district headquarters hospital and another local team are at the spot to assess the situation and conduct a detailed probe into the incident.
Mahaling said that the government was waiting for the postmortem report for a confirmation on the cause of the deaths. "People in Kandhamal consume mango kernel. It is common in that region and there also have been reports of health complications linked to it in the past," he said.
The Kandhmal incident reminds a similar tragedy involving mango kernel deaths in Kashipur block of Rayagada district, where at least 20 people died in 2001, and two more succumbed to mango kernel consumption in 2016. Additionally, mango kernel has claimed lives in Laxmipur in Koraput district in 2012 and 2013, as well as in Jharigaon in Nabarangpur district in 2018.
