Train ops resume 7 hrs after slum fire

Kolkata: A fire broke out in the Sholo Bigha slum near Eastern Railway's Santoshpur station on Saturday at 1.48 pm. Around 50-60 shanties near the railway station were gutted. No one was injured. Traffic came to a standstill on Budge Budge Road from around 2 pm as at least six to eight fire tenders pressed into service were parked on the main road.Rajeev Saxena, divisional railway manager, Sealdah, said, "We were told there was a cylinder blast. The fire melted OHE cables, following which train operations were stalled from Sealdah to Budge Budge." Services resumed from Budge Budge to Sealdah at 9.40 pm and between Majerhat to Budge Bidge at 10.45 pm.A fire official said the fire spread from a kitchen in one of the hutments.