SHILLONG: The massive fire which broke out at Mawbah (Barapathar) locality of the city in the wee hours of Tuesday has caused major damages with atleast 12 shops gutted besides several houses, rendering many families homeless.
Police said on Tuesday that the fire was caused by an electric short circuit in a shoe workshop in the area and within minutes, the fire spread to the nearby houses and shops.
Apart from the shops and houses, a mosque also sustained severe damage in the fire.
The fire spread quickly as atleast six to seven LPG cylinders exploded resulting in the flames reaching to height of as much as 40 feet.
After continuous struggle of two hours, the fire was finally brought under the control with several fire tenders being pressed into service.
Families who were rendered homeless have been taking shelter in the homes of relatives and acquaintances.
Some students who are appearing their board examinations told this scribe that they could not salvage anything, not even their examination admit cards, and were unsure whether they would be allowed to appear the remaining papers without the admit cards.
Affected residents, however, were dissatisfied that the fire tenders reached late and even the MeECL delayed in cutting off power supply in the area.
Residents said that the fire started at 1:05 am and it was only after 20 minutes that the first fire tender appeared at the spot despite being called immediately. Even the MeECL took over twenty-five minutes to cut the power lines, but by then the damage had already been done as massive short circuit occurred.
Residents also complained that there was no response on the emergency helpline