Staff Reporter

Ponda

Though fire officials managed to douse the fire that gutted a scrapyard in Dhavali last Friday, the exact cause of the blaze is still not clear. Apart from turning the scrapyard into ashes, the incident also resulted in the closure of a section of the Ponda-Margao highway for two days.

With possibilities of foul play involved, fire officer Sushil Morajkar informed this daily that fire officials have written to the Ponda police for a formal investigation into the matter to find out the cause behind the fire.

Morajkar also informed that the exact loss is not yet estimated in the incident. He added that the surveyor is yet to reach the site, and that the loss is expected to run into crores considering the size of the scrapyard.

The major fire had broken out last Friday afternoon and fire brigades from all over the state were deployed at the incident site to douse the flame. Operations continued till Sunday morning.

It led to the closure of the Ponda-Margao highway at Dhavali, with traffic being diverted to the Bethoda bypass and Kalvem village route for two days. The highway was re-opened only after the fire was brought under control.

Locals informed that the Kavlem panchayat and the scrapyard owner were locked in a legal battle for years, and that the latter had managed to get a stay against eviction; the next hearing was scheduled for May 12.