Devastating fire in Dum Dum market kills 2, damages goods worth crores

Kolkata: Two persons were charred to death in a devastating fire which destroyed Gorabazar Market at Dum Dum in northern parts of the city early Monday. The victims were Sunil Das (45) of Odisha and Vicky Sau (22) of Bihar. Both worked at a snacks shop from where their bodies were recovered. They could not escape at around 1.45 am when the fire broke out at the market.

Nearly 20 fire engines were pressed into service. The source of the blaze was traced to some shops of rice and puffed rice, according to the traders. Later the flames engulfed the entire market. Over 150 shops were gutted in the fire leading to a loss of stocks worth over crores. It was a rude shock to the traders hours before the Saraswati Puja when the people throng to market to buy vegetables.

A PSU bank’s branch located on the market premises was damaged also. The situation came under control on Monday morning.

An electric short circuit is suspected to have ignited the flames. Information and technology minister Bratya Basu, also the local Trinamul Congress MLA, mourned the loss of lives.

He said, “It was a very old market. There was no planning when it was built. So, there was hardly any fire safety measure. I will convene a meeting between the market committee and the municipality to avoid the repetition of such incidents in future. I would talk to the fire department also.” Most traders however and local residents alleged that the devastation would not have been havoc had there been a fire station in vicinity. They alleged that earlier two fire engines were kept stand-by at the Dum Dum Municipality building. According to them, the fire brigade failed to bring water. The situation aggravated as the fire brigade personnel had to travel long distance for the source of water after failing to use a nearby waterbody since it was cleaned recently.

Dum Dum municipality chairman Harendra Singha said, “I am aware of the public demand. But the land for building a fire station is yet to be found. It will come up once the land is located.”