Day after fire guts 20 huts, MKB Nagar residents staring at bleak future

KANAGA B, 48, is homeless and burdened with debt, as she has lost not only her house, but also ₹50,000 in cash that she had borrowed at a steep 15% interest.

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She is one among the many families whose lives and livelihoods have been affected by the fire that swept through Sathiya Murthy Nagar Main Road in MKB Nagar on Monday evening.

Kanaga, who lives alone in a makeshift house and earns a living by selling appalam, pickles, and semiya (vermicelli) on city streets, had returned from work at a wedding hall to find her home engulfed in flames. The fire, reportedly triggered by an electrical short circuit in one of the huts, rapidly spread through the densely packed settlement, gutting at least 20 huts.