Bhubaneswar: The Diwali festival took a tragic turn in various regions of Odisha Sunday with many individuals sustaining fire injuries and multiple incidents of fire mishap being reported from different parts of the state.
A massive fire broke out in the evening at a godown in Kali Mandir Sahi, Baripada. Five fire trucks were engaged to bring the fire under control. The fire is suspected to have been triggered by a sky lantern, said a source.
In Sambalpur, a fire broke out in an apartment Sunday night due to a Diwali rocket. According to a source, the fire mishap took place on the third floor of Shyama Vatika’s apartment in Sambalpur’s Khetrajpur area. No injuries have been reported, as the apartment was empty at the time of the mishap.
In Jajpur district, six persons including three children and a woman, sustained critical burn injuries while bursting firecrackers at separate places in the district, including Byasanagar and Korei localities.
The Air Quality Index (AQI) of places like Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Balasore, and Angul dropped to ‘Poor’ category, as per the Central Pollution Control Board’s November 12 report (4 PM, Average of past 24 hours).
Notably, AQI is determined based on four key air pollutants: ground-level ozone, particle pollution, carbon monoxide, and sulfur dioxide in the atmosphere.
PNN