Keonjhar: Properties worth several crores of rupees were destroyed as a major fire broke out in the daily market at Ras Mandir Bazaar in this town in the wee hours of Monday.
Officials said that 69 shops had been completely gutted. Luckily, however, there were no casualties.
Sources said that the fire may have resulted due to an electrical short circuit. However, the lack of fire safety measures was one of the main reasons why the blaze spread quickly, they alleged. The result was that many shopkeepers lost their entire belonging as their shops were completely reduced to ashes.
Many said that they have no hope of survival if the government does not step in as they have lost all their belongings.
Locals spotted the blaze after a few minutes and informed the fire services. Two fire tenders from here and four from Jhumpura, Banshapal, and Patana were pressed into service to douse the fire.
Later, two more were brought in to control the blaze. After about four hours, the blaze was finally brought under control, Keonjhar fire officer Manoranjan Mohanta informed.
Eyewitnesses said that the fire first broke out in a utensil shop and quickly spread to other areas. Shop owners also blamed the fire services department for their losses. They pointed out that initially only one fire tender was pressed into action. They said that had there been more fire engines, the damage could have been minimised.
On being informed, Keonjhar District Collector Ashish Thakare along with other officials visited the market and reviewed the situation. They assured all help to the distraught shop owners who had lost all their belongings. On being directed by the collector, the Revenue department has constituted a five-member team to assess the damages.
PNN