Agartala, Oct. 25 (PTI): Fourteen shops were gutted in a fire that broke out at Battala market here on Thursday, a fire officer said.
Officer-in charge of Agartala Fire Station, Bhajan Dey said they received a call at 4.20 am, from a pedestrian who had spotted the fire early morning on Thursday.
Seven fire tenders were rushed to the market to douse the blaze, he said.
No one was injured in the incident as the fire broke out in the early hours when the market remains closed, he said. The prominent market at Battala houses shops that sell items such as garments, groceries, fruits, vegetables and fish.
“It took about two hours for the fire fighters to douse the flames. Fourteen shops were gutted and the initial damage was estimated at Rs 40 lakh,” Dey told reporters.
A short circuit might have triggered the fire, the fire officer said the exact cause of the blaze was being ascertained.
Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb visited the market and said that the losses would be compensated from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund.
“We have decided to pay Rs 25,000 to the owners of five shops who suffered the maximum damage and Rs 15,000 to the others,” Deb told reporters.
CM orders probe into fire incident
Following a devastating fire which gutted 11 shops at Battala Bazaar in Agartala on October 24 night, the state chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb had ordered an enquiry into the fire incident.
Police suspected the fire to have ignited from fire-crackers following celebration of Laxmi puja on the intervening night. The loss in the accident was estimated about a crore of rupees.
The chief minister accompanied by local MLA Ashis Saha visited the market today and interacted with the victim businessmen and assured them of government support at possible extent. He, however, directed police to conduct thorough enquiry into the cause of fire in the market, a UNI report stated.
According to report, the fire spread in the market in early hours and gutted eleven shops side-by-side on the eastern front side of the busy, sprawling market.
All the shops were located along the line of pork selling shops beside the main road from south to Agartala across the new bridge.
Police said that the reason for the fire could not be ascertained yet, the report added.
One victim traders said, they had received information about the fire around 0430 hours today and rushed to the spot and alerted fire tenders.
