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Government support eludes fire victims

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A man gazes at the remains of his home that was destroyed by a fire on Thursday.
By No Author
DANG, Feb 22: Asharam Yadav walked out of a makeshift shelter on Saturday night, unable to bear the wailings of his hungry children.

On Thursday, Asharam saw a fire destroy his old house and everything in it, including the stored grains.


Although he and his family members were unscathed, the blaze has left Asharam wondering how he would feed his children.

As Asharam stood contemplating his family's grim situation, some locals dropped by to hand him a bag of rice and assure him of full support in this difficult hour.

"We would have died of hunger without the support of locals," Asharam said.

Asharam's house was one of the 26 homes destroyed by a blaze in Phohara village of Deukhuri Rajpur, Dang district. Five cowsheds were also destroyed by the fire that broke out from the house of Mayaram Yadav.

Although the locals immediately set out to douse the fire, they could not bring it under control because of the strong winds, Ashram recalled.

"All I am left with is the clothes that I am wearing. Everything turned into ashes right before my eyes," he said.

Asharam's nine-member family is now forced to spend sleepless night under flimsy tarpaulin.

Another fire victim, Rameshwar Yadav, lost all four of his houses in Phohara. Rameshwor's 17-member family suffers the same fate as that of Asharam's.

The fire victims who have been rendered homeless complain of exposure to extreme heat and fear rains.

The downpour on Saturday night added to their woes. The children were unable to sleep throughout that night in the shelter built out of tarpaulins with several holes in them.

Even after four days of the incident, the victims complained that they have received no help.

Whatever support they have received so far have come from the villagers.

"How long do we have to depend on the villagers?" the victims questioned.



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