35 shops gutted in Unit I Market; property worth Rs 2 cr destroyed

Reported by Santosh Jagdev

1no.market building re agnikanda (2) (1)

Bhubaneswar, Nov 12:

At least 35 shops have been reduced to ashes in a fire that broke out at the Unit I daily market (Haat) here in the wee hours of Tuesday, destroying property worth more than Rs 2 crore. But there was no casualty due to the mishap.

According to Assistant fire station officer Babaji Charan Lenka, the fire broke out at Unit-I haat here at around 2.30 am.

Shops selling stationery, steel and silver utensils, stoves and books located on the second and third lane of the market were the worst affected, he said.

“After getting a call at around 2.45 am from the market committee members, five fire brigade vehicles – three from Kalpana Square and one each from Chandrasekharpur and Baramunda fire stations – rushed to the spot,” Lenka said the OST.

“The fire broke out from a stationary shop and spread quickly. Soon, shopkeepers rushed to the spot and tried to retrieve whatever they could. But curious people wanting to see what was going on unwittingly blocked the lanes and made their job difficult,” said an eye-witness.

Preliminary reports suggested that the fire broke out due to short circuit from a shop and spread to other shops in no time, the fire officer informed.

“It took six hours for us to extinguish the fire and get the situation under control,” Lenka said adding fire tenders had difficulty accessing the mishap spot  due to the congestion of shops allowing little space for their movement, he said.

Since Monday is a weekly holiday for the Unit I haat, news about the fire came to light very late.

BMC officials have arrived at the spot to assess the situation.

Meanwhile, Mayor Ananta Narayan Jena, along with local corporators, rushed to the spot and took stock of the situation.

Market committee members staged a protest in front of the Market building asking for compensation for property lost in the fire.

 

 

 

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