Property worth over Rs 1 crore destroyed
Cuttack: A major fire broke out Sunday at a shopping mall here in which several shops were gutted.
There was no information of any injury or casualty though 50 employees were in City Style shopping mall when the fire broke out at 11 am. The fire was first noticed at a garment showroom in the mall.
Property worth more than Rs 1 crore was reduced to ashes as the fire spread to four other shops in the vicinity. Another shopping mall, Geeta Fashions, and a few other shops in the locality also caught fire.
About 150 personnel of fire service, police and ODRAF and 17 fire tenders have been pressed to douse the flames.
Fire brigade personnel suspect that short circuit led to the fire but DG Fire Service BK Sharma said an inquiry will be conducted to ascertain the exact cause of fire. A three-member team headed by the chief fire officer in Cuttack will conduct the probe. The mall is located at Palamandap, near Badambadi bus terminal, the biggest bus depot of the city.
The incident has disrupted vehicular traffic between Badambadi and Link Road.
As many as eight fire tenders and about 100 fire tender personnel besides the Orissa Disaster Rapid Action Force(ODRAF) team were pressed into service to extinguish the flame and all efforts were on to prevent the fire spread to other nearby areas.
Showroom sources said the staff members immediately evacuated the people from the showroom and there was no casualty or injury in the incident.
Since the mall is located at the busy Badambadi area, the fire triggered panic in the area and the police had a tough time to control traffic and the people who throng the area.
Sources said City Style shopping mall did not have fire safety measures and the Fire Brigade department had served a notice on the mall January 20. However, the mall failed to comply with the notice.
Sources added that about 100 customers were also present in the mall when the fire broke out.
PNN & Agencies