Shimla /Hamirpur
As the state of Himachal Pradesh is a highly sensitive area for various types of natural and man-made disasters. Here almost every year in every season, loss of life and property has been recorded due to different types of disasters. Due to snowfall and mountainous areas in about 80% of Himachal Pradesh, there is a difference in the design and material of the houses here, in which in the more mountainous areas, houses are built in Kath Kunni style, Pagoda style, Slate, Tin Shed etc. Most of the houses built in this style are made from wood of good quality trees, which are also flammable and highly sensitive to fire. Apart from this, during the long winter and snowfall season, the chances of incidents of fire in these areas increase a lot as compared to other seasons.
If we talk about the last four-five years, then their data shows that such disasters and incidents are increasing day by day and every year: If we talk about the recent New Year, on 2 January 2025, about 17 houses and 6 cow sheds were completely burnt to ashes due to a fierce domestic fire in Tandi village under Banjar subdivision of District Kullu. This terrible fire continued to smolder for about 20 hours and about 136 people became homeless and the loss has been estimated to be Rs 10 crore.
On the other hand, if we remember the incident of 2 February 2025, in which 1 person died and 30 people were badly injured due to a terrible fire in a perfume factory located in Nalagarh of District Solan. On the other hand, on 24 November 2024, a terrible fire broke out in Tiyun village of Kullu district, due to which many houses were engulfed in fire, as a result of which the loss was estimated to be about 80 lakhs. If we talk about another incident, on 3 September 2023, 9 houses were badly burnt due to a fierce fire in Daroti village of Rohru sub-division of Shimla district, in which about 74 people of 21 families were homeless and affected. Apart from this, another incident occurred on 28 October 2021 in Malana village of Kullu district, in which about 16 houses were completely burnt due to sudden fire in many houses of the village, in which 150 people became homeless.
Not only this, apart from this it would be appropriate to say that in such incidents of domestic arson, not only humans but also livestock are badly affected and along with this, an increase in environmental pollution is also recorded. In these severe winters, incidents of suffocation increase in the hilly areas as well as the plains with snow, dense fog and cold waves. The main reason for this has been found to be the use of heaters and braziers all night while sleeping. Due to which, when the amount of oxygen in a closed room decreases, the carbon-monoxide gas emitted by them increases excessively, which also leads to the risk of death and other types of diseases. Therefore, awareness programs and warning messages are issued from time to time by the concerned departments in this regard for the benefit of the public. To prevent this, only by being aware and following the instructions issued by the government from time to time will we be able and successful in controlling such domestic fire incidents etc. in Himachal Pradesh in the future.
