20141004 India 20 Lohargali shops gutted in fire
India Oct 04 2014 “Stores”
Dead : dead 0 or unknown Burnout : 1 to 29 Injured : injured 0 or unknown
20 Lohargali shops gutted in fire
Updated: 2014-10-04-22:23
Around 20 shops and nearly 50 roadside stalls were gutted in a major fire mishap at Lohargali of Rawatpada. The fire started at around 2 am on Saturday morning, most likely because of an electrical short-circuit. Once the flames spread, two domestic LPG cylinders and an air conditioner burst. It took fire tenders about 12 hours to douse the flames.
The fire raises questions about the quality of fire safety mechanisms in place at wholesale markets in the city, many of which have congested lanes. Extinguishing fires in such localities is harder, as fire engines find it harder to manoeuvre the narrow, crowded lanes.
Many of the shops gutted in Saturday’s fire sold jewellery, cosmetics, toys, hosiery items and household stuff. Some shop owners claimed that collectively, the loss would be upward of Rs 35 crore. Lohargali is among the most prominent wholesale markets in Agra, and retailers from neighbouring districts like Hathras, Firozabad and Mathura routinely shop here.
Eight fire brigade vans were pressed into service, and doused the flames with jets of water. About 40 men were at work for over 12 hours to douse the flames.
Besides firemen, city policemen too worked to rescue trapped people in nearby houses. There are residential quarters above many of the shops in the market. No loss of life was reported in the incident at the time of filing this report.
Local people said fire control operations were stalled several times because the firemen ran out of water. People in the area raised slogans against the district administration and police.
“We are lucky the fire did not spread to neighbouring Kinari Bazar, Subhash Bazar and Rawatpada, where shops sell clothes, dry fruit and spices. This incident puts into sharp relief the lack of preparedness for such an incident on the part of fire tenders,” Ashok Gupta, a trader, said.
Among the worst affected were four multi-storey buildings. While many shops on the lower floors of these buildings caught fire, those higher up were saved as fire tenders arrived in time to save them.
Kanhaiya Bhaudariya, a local, said no official from the district administration arrived at the site till late afternoon, even though the fire began soon after midnight. “Nobody would listen to us. There were traders who had been continuously trying to get in touch with the SSP, but found his phone switched off. The district magistrate was busy as the chief minister was visiting Agra. Our lives and property mean little,” Kanhaiya Bhadauriya said.
District magistrate Pankaj Kumar said appropriate action was taken soon after news of the fire mishap was received. He said a drive would be taken up in the congested lanes of the city where markets are located, to ensure that proper fire safety arrangements are in place.
Websource:The times of India
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/agra/20-Lohargali-shops-gutted-in-fire/articleshow/44343156.cms