The massive inferno that burst out at a Jute Corporation of India (JCI) warehouse in Assam's Morigaon district on Wednesday evening, continued to burn down raw jute worth tens of crores on Thursday. Firefighting operations were underway early this morning in a bid to control the raging flames.
The JCI warehouse situated at Banmuri gaon village under the Bhuragaon subdivision in Assam's Morigaon district, which primarily housed raw jute from producers of the region, was gutted as a result of the fire putting farmers under a huge financial burden.
The fire had reportedly broken out at the JCI warehouse at around 4 pm on Wednesday evening and within seconds, the losses incurred rose to several crores. Information received this morning stated that the fire was still raging.
Meanwhile, there is no clear evidence as to how many tonnes of jute was stored inside the warehouse when the fire broke out, however, it has been informed that it was entirely stacked with raw as well as processed jute.
Around six to seven fire tenders from Morigaon, Moirabari, Bhuragaon, Dhing and other nearby regions were rushed immediately in a bid to douse the flames. Witness accounts state that the flames were so massive that no one could go near the warehouse and make an attempt to douse the flames four several hours after the fire initially started.
The entire warehouse was gutted. The source of the fire also remains a mystery as of now and a proper probe is awaited.
Morigaon district commissioner IAS Devashish Sharma was at the site and said, "The situation is tricky as after the fire was brought under control once, it again started off as embers remained in the jute strands. Our first priority at the moment is to recover as much of the jute as possible. According to the locals, the possibility of a short circuit is minimal as all electrical wirings are separated and at a distance from the warehouse. We are trying to douse the flames as soon as possible."
"As far as I have been told, many of the jute producers had no insurance on their produce. We have already lost several crores worth of raw jute. Fortunately, there was no loss of lives or injuries in the incident. The primary cause of concern at present remains the losses incurred. I have called in the manager and will talk to him for more details on the quantity of jute that was stored in the warehouse. I have been told that only one farmer has incurred losses to the tune of Rs 30 lakhs, so you can imagine the total losses that the fire caused," added the Morigaon DC.
It may be mentioned that apart from the jute stored inside the warehouse, several quintals of it were also stored in and around the JCI godown without any protection.
Panic gripped the jute producers in the region in the aftermath of the fire as only a small fraction of it was purchased by the Jute Corporation of India, while the rest of it was their own. They have stated that JCI, for a long time halted the purchase of jute from them which may now lead to them incurring the losses. They have alleged deceiving practices taken by JCI towards them, further stating they have not received the right price.
Moreover, middlemen have also looted them in this regard for a long time. The inferno left a large population exasperated. The question that arises is who, if anyone, will compensate their losses.
