Jaipur fire: Blaze slowly abating, area around site to open for nearby factory owners

Jaipur, Nov 2: The fire at the Indian Oil depot in Jaipur, which started on October 29, is slowly abating and the area around 700-800 meters away from the site will be open for the factory owners to assess losses, District Magistrate of Jaipur Kuldeep Ranka said on Monday.

“Fire in four tankers of Indian Oil Depots is still there. Fire has come down to large extent in two tankers of diesel, but fire is still raging in two tankers of petrol. The main decision, which was taken yesterday, was to open the area around 700-800 meters away from the fire site,” Ranka said.

“The area where there is less public movement, the Sitapura industrial area SEZ Phase I and SEZ Phase II is open for the factory owners, so that they can go and assess the damage and also decide when to restart work,” he added.

Earlier on Sunday, Indian Oil Corporation officials had confirmed that the inferno in three tanks out of the 11 at its storage depot was still raging, while the rest were spewing smoke.

The major fire, which entered its fifth day on Monday and claimed 11 lives, has damaged an adjacent factory manufacturing electronic meters.

Meanwhile, Doctors have said that the smoke, which was emitting many harmful gases, might create serious health hazards to the people of surrounding areas and advised them to cover their faces with mask of cloth.

“Acute problems will occur due to emission of gases like carbon monoxide that replaces oxygen, carbon-dioxide, and nitrous oxide. This would lead to health hazards like chest heaviness, breathing problems and uneasiness,” said Dr. Pradhumn Sharma.

Dr. Sharma especially warned people suffering from asthma to stay indoors.

“Mainly people suffering from COPD (Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), asthma, they''ll have impact on chest and such people should keep their windows and doors closed and remain indoors so that the polluted air doesn''t enter their houses,” Dr. Sharma added.

So far, nearly five lakh residents in the radius of five- kilometer area around the fire spot have moved to safer locations after it was declared "danger zone".

Among those who were evacuated were all the patients, doctors and staff of a government hospital and engineering and medical students of 10 hostels.

According to Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) sources, a total loss of Rs300 crores has been estimated.

The IOC also said that it would take at least 15-18 months to rebuild the facility in Jaipur.