20191028 Late night inferno destroys Golebazaar in Sambalpur
India Oct 28 2019 “Building” “Stores”
Dead : dead 0 or unknown Burnout : 1 to 29 Injured : injured 0 or unknown
Late night inferno destroys Golebazaar in Sambalpur
Updated: 2019–10–29
SAMBALPUR: A fire broke out at Golebazaar , the oldest organised daily market of the city, late on Sunday night and destroyed goods worth lakhs. Around 80 pindis (concrete platforms with tin roofs) were gutted but no casualties were reported.
The fire broke out between 1.30 am and 1.45 am on Monday and engulfed a large portion of the market.
Three fire tenders worked for around two hours to bring it under control. The exact cause of the incident is yet to be ascertained. Fire officials said they suspected that the fire was caused by earthen lamps (diyas) in front of shops on the occasion of Diwali.
Assistant fire officer (Sambalpur), Jitendra Kumar Das, said, “We received information about the fire at 1.55 am. A fire tender was rushed to the spot. With the help of locals, the lock of the market was broken and the fire tender immediately started dousing the flames. Later, two more fire tenders were pressed into service. Eighteen fire fighters were engaged in the operation. From primary investigation, it appears that property worth Rs 3.5 lakh was damaged.”
A vendor, Kailashnath Gupta, said the pindi he operated out of was badly damaged. “I had kept 40 bags of tamarind on the concrete platform. All the tamarind and even the electronic weighing machine were damaged,” he said.
Deputy commissioner of Sambalpur Municipal Corporation (SMC), Debendra Nanda, said shops along three rows were damaged. “The revenue department will assess the losses and submit a report to the government. The funds allotted by the government will be distributed among the affected vendors,” he said, adding that an inquiry would be conducted to find the exact reason for the fire.
Golebazaar was established in 1903 and has seen major fires in 1993, 1999, 2005 and 2017.
Web Source: The times of India