Shivamogga, Jan 07: An areca plantation burnt into ashes when it caught fire accidentally at Veerapura village of Agrahara hobli in Thirthahalli taluk on Monday.
The incident happened in the plantation belonging to Hoovamma. As soon as the news spread, locals and fire brigade tried their level best to douse the fire.
But thousands of areca saplings were burnt into ashes in the fire. It is estimated that areca saplings worth more than Rs 25 lakh were damaged. A case was registered at Malur police station.
The areca plantation was developed on an area of 3.25 acre of land around four years ago. Total 1200 areca samplings and banana plantation was raised. Drip irrigation facility was made pending lakhs of rupees and a pipeline was laid for water supply. Sprinklers and pipeline was also gutted in the fire incident.
“We have developed the plantation spending lakhs of rupees with hard work. Now the entire plantation was gutted in the fire. The government and the concerned authorities should come to our rescue and help us with suitable compensation”, Hoovamma family members demanded.
MLA Araga Jnanendra, former MLA Kimmane Rathnakar, DCC Bank president RM Manjunath Gowda and other elected representatives, Tahsildar, and horticulture department officials visited the place and reviewed the situation. They assured of getting the compensation from the government.
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Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
