Five sawmills operating sans nod gutted

Nagpur: Timber, machinery and other property worth ₹94 lakh was reduced to ashes in a devastating fire that broke out in five sawmills near Lakadganj police station early on Wednesday.
The cause of the fire is not known yet, said Lakadganj fire station officer Anil Gode. None was injured in the incident, he added. The fire broke out at one of the sawmills at around 4.25am which soon engulfed four adjoining units.
Fire personnel from Lakadganj fire station reached the spot with two fire tenders. Soon, six more fire tenders from Kalamna, Sakkardara and Civil Lines were pressed into service. The intensity of the fire was such that it took around three hours for the firefighters to control the inferno.
Preliminary probe revealed that the fire started from M/s Abdul Aziz Timber Mart owned by one Abdul Hamid Akbani, Gode said. Timber logs worth ₹2 lakh were gutted there. The fire spread to the adjoining sawmills — M/s Jogendra Industries where materials worth ₹30 lakh were gutted. According to estimates, M/s Akbani Timber Mart suffered ₹35 lakh loss, M/s Vijay Timber Mart (₹25 lakh) and M/s Midland Wood Industries ( ₹2 lakh).
According to Gode, the sawmills had not obtained NOC to run the units and even no firefighting equipment, including fire extinguishers, were found there.