Tension prevailed at Madhura Nagar in Hyderabad's Shamshabad area after a fire broke out at a lodge, in the early hours of Wednesday. According to the police, the flames started at around 5.45am at the Sri Anupama residency lodge, an eight-storey building, which consisted of a doctor's clinic and ESI dispensary at the ground floor.
“There have been no casualties. Residents staying near the lodge noticed some smoke and alerted the police and the fire station,” Inspector M Mahesh told TNM. He also said that though it was not a major incident, dense smoke was coming out from the ground floor. There were 15 people inside the building when the incident took place, who were later rescued.
“Three fire engines reached the spot in 20 minutes and it took nearly an hour to douse the fire,” the inspector said. Though the reason for the fire is still unknown, the police suspect that it could be a short circuit. Due to the fire, a huge amount of medicines and medical equipment kept inside the dispensary were damaged.
“We are yet to know how much loss and damages the dispensary has faced. But most of the equipment has been burnt completely,” the police officer said.
In April this year, a major fire took place in front of the Exhibition Ground’s Ajanta Gate in Nampally, destroying nearly 60 out of the 200 huts in that area.
With 60 huts turned to ashes, several families lost most of their belongings, while some even lost their livelihood. The police had suspected a short circuit to be the reason for the fire.
Most of the families were migrant labourers from Andhra Pradesh, who had been staying there for more than a decade.