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KOHIMA: Vegetable vendors, who were affected by the recent fire incident at Moa Market, are back in business at a parking lot allocated by Tsütuonuomia (T) Khel at Sokhriezie Market in Kohima.
Asoneinuo Metha, a vendor, while speaking to Eastern Mirror on Thursday morning, expressed gratitude to the council for allotting the much-needed space to continue their occupation.
Out of the 39 women vendors, she informed that most of them were widows except two or three who were trying to make a living to support their children.
Metha recalled how their stocks, including money saved to look after one another in times of need, were consumed by the fire.
‘We don't know how the fire originated as it was on election day when all the shops were closed. It was at night and we couldn't do anything except to cry together helplessly in front of our burning market,’ said Metha, who is also the president of the vendors’ association at Mao Market.
"Both unfortunate and fortunate events occur anytime in life. It's so tragic but we are happy that people have come forward to help us with food items, water and money," she said.
It may be recalled that a fierce fire broke out at Mao Market and gutted adjoining markets including several residential houses, while affecting Sokhriezie Market, Bethel Medical Centre among others on February 27 evening.
T Khel Council provided a parking lot on March 15, at the commercial Sokhriezie Market at BOC as an immediate relief to as many as 39 daily vegetable vendors, who were rendered jobless after the fire incident.
Read: Kohima fire incident: ‘Some helped while others were busy taking pictures’
Considering the plight of the vendors, K Neibou Sekhose, chairman of T Khel Council, informed this newspaper that they converted the parking lot of Sokhriezie Market to facilitate as many as 39 vendors on "humanitarian ground" as an "immediate relief".
Sokhriezie Market Management Committee convenor, Neikeduolie Suohu, while speaking during the programme on March 16 said, ‘taking into account the sorry condition of those daily vendors, the government allotted a space for them to vend their services’.
However, due to various reasons, it was learnt that the sellers expressed inconveniences to the proposed place to carry out their daily activities.
As such, Suohu apprised that they had to sacrifice a parking lot on the ground floor of the Sokhriezie Market building to cater to the needs of the vendors.
After converting their parking lot, he informed how they began systematically arranging the space with necessary facilities such as electricity while constructing a table each to allocate the 39 vendors identified by the Mao Market Management, to rehabilitate them once again.
An official from Fire and Emergency Service department informed this newspaper that property worth INR 21, 95, 49, 900 was destroyed in the fire.
The figure was estimated out of the damages to buildings, shops and residential houses gutted during the fire incident.
The official informed that the exact cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained.