Basta: A major fire broke out and reduced paddy in 50 acres of land to ashes at Dhuliuda under Basta block in Balasore.
According to reports, fire broke out all of a sudden in a farmland and later spread to nearby farmlands.
Hundreds of people were reaping paddy and they had tied to douse it unsuccessfully. Help of fire brigades were immediately sought, but the fire tenders could not find an entry into the place of mishap. As a result, fire engulfed paddy in 50 acres.
Farmers like Jaladhar Jena, Ashok Jena, Madhab Jena, Ananta Jena, Rabinda Jena, Brundaban Singh, Purnachandra Singh, Manoranjan Singh, Purusottam Senapati, Fakirmohan Jena, Bhaskar Jena and Haripada Senapati lost their paddy to fire.
Besides, Jhadeswar Das of Darada panchayat have also loast paddy in 1 acre of land.
Basta tehsildar Narendra Khamari and Jaleswar MLA Aswini Patra rushed to the spot. The tehsildar assured the affected farmers that the local revenue inspector will survey the extent of damage and adequate compensation will be paid to the farmers.
The exact cause of the fire is not known. But it is suspected that the fire might have emerged from abandoned straws which are set on fire by farmers.
PNN