December 14, 2018: Once again mysterious blazing fire created panic among people and sent administration into tizzy – as local people spotted smoke and fire under an electric pole by the side of NH 8 at West Jalefa Panchayat in Sabroom under South Tripura district today. Fire service station and local power department were informed about uninterrupted smoke. Fire tenders rushed to the spot and brought the smoke under control. Till the report filing, there is no sign of fire at the site.
It may be noted, on April 18 last, similar mysterious fire at Jorkumba area in Baishnabpur under Sabroom caused much panic among the people. A four-member ONGC expert team visited the spot and said that fire was caused not because of any natural gas – however, they could not ascertain reasons behind the fire.
This time, after reports of mysterious smoke and fire came out, two officials of Tripura Science and Technology – Abhishek Choudhury and Dwipayan Ghosh, rushed to the spot from Agartala.
Choudhury said, smoke is oozing out through the holes in lower part of the electric poles. “We are yet to know the exact reason behind the smoke and fire, he said. It is learnt, expert will dig out the spot to collect soil sample and send those samples to Kolkata and Delhi laboratories for tests.
Detailing about the incident, local sources said, for the second time in nine months sudden uninterrupted oozing gas from the ground and subsequent blazing fire occurred here has triggered panic among residents of the area.
Residents in West Jalefa opposite Shivbari today morning spotted the fire beside the road near iron electric pole and reported to police. Police along with fire tenders immediately rushed to the spot and brought the fire under control.
An official of local administration however, made it clear that preliminary investigation has established nothing unusual. Sources said district administration has taken steps to control the fire and avoid any untoward incident.
The area has been cordoned off as part of precautionary measure. “We are keeping close eye on the fire incident at Shivbari and fire service personnel are ready to meet any kind of eventuality”, said an official of the local administration.
