Late night blaze in Kamla Market engulfs over 50 shops

NEW DELHI: On Tuesday morning, the inner circle area of Kamla Market wore a devastated facede, after a major fire broke out in the cooler marketlate Monday night.

According to shopkeepers, more than 50 shops were charred beyond recogition, after the fire started as a spark from a pole and moved to the electrical meter box.

"There was no casualty in the incident," said the shopkeepers.

There are more than two by lanes in the market, which have more than five shops that were engulfed by the massive blaze.

Tension prevailed in the market, as many traders were gearing for the winter season lost their stocks in the fire.

Many of them were also angry that no politician came to visit the oldest market in the Capital.

Talking to Millennium Post, shopkeepers said this was the first such major incident in the market – built in the 1950s.

"I got a call from a person who was in the market. He told me that there was a spark in the pole, after which I rushed to the market. On the way, I got another call that the spark had turned into blaze which has gutted several shops," said Pradeep Bhatia, president of Kamla Market Association, adding that goods worth rupees crore were gutted in the fire.

Bhatia stated that the market has more than 250 shops. "I have seen two fires, but they were not such huge like this one," he said.

According to fire officials, the call came around 1 am on Tuesday, after which 25 fire tenders were rushed to the spot. The fire was doused around 5 am in the morning.

Shopkeepers were also not happy with the way teh fire department responded the incident.

One of the traders said that nearly four to five families are dependant on one shop, including those of the labourers who work in the market and electricians who work with wires and other electrical appliances.

"Now, all of them have no source of income. To build the shops again, it will take several months," said Bhatia.

Near the burnt shops, there was also a cart reduced to near ashes. The owner of shop number 134, Gaurav, said that he had recently bought new stock of geysers for the winter and many of them have been affected.