As many as 18 huts and two pucca houses were gutted in a fire accident in Thanampalayam near Thavalakuppam in Puducherry in the wee hours of Sunday. The fire was noticed in the house of a villager, Prabhakaran, and it spread to the adjoining huts. Two pucca houses nearby were also damaged by the flames. Fire tenders from Puducherry and Bahour put out the flames.
The huts were constructed by the people after getting patta under the Free House Site Scheme of the government four years ago. However, people are yet to get housing subsidy for construction of pucca houses under the Perunthalaivar Kamaraj Housing Scheme.
Union minister of State for Prime Minister’s Office V Narayansamy, Chief Minsiter N Rangasamy, PCC pesident A V Subramanian and MLA Purushotttaman visited the area and consoled the victims of the accident. Some of the dwellers lost their belongings and other items they had kept for their daughters’ marriages.
Revenue officials, led by tahsildar M S Ramesh, distributed Rs 12,000 each to the residents of the 18 huts and `3,000 each to the people who live in the two damaged pucca houses under the Revenue Department’s Assistance for Repair and Restoration of Damaged Houses Scheme.