Amritsar:
A massive fire broke out on Tuesday in Amritsar's Khanna Paper Mill, one of the largest paper mills in the country. Around 45 fire engines were pressed into service to douse the flames at the mill, 15 kms away from Amritsar's International Rajasansi Airport.
No causality has been reported in the fire so far.
The fire broke out at 1 pm, and reportedly spread over eight acres of land. The paper mill is spread over 100 acres of land and has 70, 000 tonnes of newsprint and paper pulp.
The engineering wing of the Army has joined the fire services to douse the fire, but they have not been able to reach the epicenter of the fire, which is spreading at a rapid pace. District officials say it might take two to three days to douse the fire completely.
The affected area has been cordoned off. The nearby colonies are also being evacuated.
However, according to reports, all employees of the mill are safe.
"All the labourers and staff members working in the Mill came out from the affected area as soon as they saw flames," the director of the mill, Suneet Kochar said.
The Deputy Commissioner said, "Our priority is to get control over the fire at the earliest possible, for this the State Government has also been informed, since the intensity of fire is becoming higher with the each passing moment."
The reason behind the fire is yet to be ascertained.
The mill is India's first exporter of news print to neighbouring Pakistan. Estimates suggest the fire might have caused a loss of Rs 200 crore.