Manali: A temple and four houses at were destroyed in a fire Barshanghar village in Kullu on Saturday night, but the villagers managed to control the blaze and saved about 25 houses near the area.Banjar sub-divisional magistrate M R Bhardwaj said the fire broke out in the temple of Lord Saru Nag at 8.45pm and quickly spread to neighbouring houses. The temple and two houses were reduced to ashes, while the two other houses which caught fire were severely damaged.“Eleven families have been affected by the incident. Six families were staying in the two houses which have been destroyed. The six families have been given an immediate relief of Rs 30,000 each and ration for two months. We have also given them a blanket, a tarpaulin, a tent and other essential goods. The five families staying in the partially damaged houses too were given immediate relief of Rs 5,000 each,” he said.Like most other such cases in Himachal Pradesh , fire tenders could not reach the spot due to lack of a good road. Villagers had to use buckets and waterpipes to douse the fire. A short circuit in the temple is being blamed for the incident. People of Banjar sub-division had been demanding a fire station in the area for long as fire tenders from Kullu used to take nearly two hours to reach them.

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