A raging fire in a garment shop in the congested New Market, here, on Saturday morning destroyed property worth around Rs 10 lakh, even as it triggered panic and scare in the in the area.
The fire brigade is believed to have saved property worth around Rs 50 lakh.
Fire officials and market traders were unanimous in their opinion that the market would have been gutted had the fire incident occurred in the night.
Traders and citizens joined in the fire-fighting operation before the fire brigade could make its way to the
market area through the congested roads, removing the garments and textiles stocked on the second mezzanine floor of the shop.
The incident is believed to have occurred at around 10 am on Saturday when the mega market had just started its business operations. The fire came to light when the employees noticed smoke billowing from the mezzanine floor near the air conditioner. They tried to extinguish it with the help of portable fire extinguishers and also opened up the ventilator.
However, looking at the threat of the fire spreading to the entire premises, a distress signal was sent to the fire
brigade.
Owner of Limras, Sahil Banducda, said that garments were stocked on the second floor of the shop were damaged in the fire.
“Our employees tried to extinguish the fire with the help of extinguishers, but in vain,” Sahail said.
Fire Officer Gill De Souza told the media that the fire brigade received a call at around 9.55 am and immediately rushed to the spot.
“The shop has double height and the fire has originated from the second floor which has an AC compressor. Preliminary inquiry shows that the electric problem is the cause of the fire incident,” Gill said.
“The fire tender reached the spot on time despite traffic. The shop was open and the incident occurred in the morning. The entire shop would have been gutted if the same had occurred during night time,” Gill said.
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MARGAO
Yet another fire incident in the Margao Municipal Council’s New Market on Saturday only brought to the fore the same old question: Is the market, which plays host to 400-odd stalls, prepared for a major fire incident?
Issues such as the defunct fire hydrant system and the delay in the construction of an overhead dedicated water tank for emergency fire-fighting operations came to the fore as the fire brigade and the traders joined in the fire-fighting operation.
President of the New Market Traders Association, Vinod Shirodkar, said the traders had exhausted all efforts to get the Margao Municipal Council build a dedicated water tank in the market area, but in vain. “Around four to five fire incidents have occurred in the New Market in recent times, but the dedicated water tank is yet to fall in place,” Vinod lamented.
He pointed out that the Margao Municipality should take up the issue seriously before a major disaster hits the municipal market.
Fire Officer Gill De Souza said that reviving the defunct fire hydrant system is a dire necessity given that it takes huge time for the fire tenders to wade through the congested roads around the market. “The fire hydrant system, if revived, will go a long way in strengthening the fire fighting mechanism in the New Market area,” he added.
Incidentally, the fire hydrants around the New Market were installed years ago, but they have remained defunct for want of adequate water pressure. To overcome the water pressure problem, the traders had been virtually after the Margao Municipal Council to build a dedicated water tank in the market area, but the tank has still not become a reality.
Ward councillor Damu Naik told the media that though the present council had in the past favoured the construction of an overhead tank, he would find out why the project has still failed to take shape.
Vinod Shirodkar pointed out that the civic body is only interested in levying garbage and other taxes, but has failed to take measures to protect the market from fire incidents.
Could have been power overloading, electricity dept to crack the whip
MARGAO: As investigation pointed fingers at overloading of a socket as the cause behind Saturday’s fire incident, the power department is bracing up to crack a whip against commercial establishments, beginning with the congested New Market.
Given the situation, the department has decided to inspect each and every shop and establishment in the New Market to ascertain the extent of power overloading in the market.
“Inquiry conducted by my junior engineer has revealed that the electric socket on the mezzanine floor was overloaded. Our investigations have revealed that overloading has resulted in the fire incident,” Assistant Engineer Carlos Fernandes told The Goan.
When the AE along with his team was in the New Market moments after the fire incident, some of the traders maintained that it was for the power department to take a call on issues relating to overloading. “Since our preliminary inquiry has revealed that the cause behind the incident is overloading, I have told the JE to start the exercise of ascertaining the number of establishments that have gone for overloading without the department’s permission,” Carlos said.
