Panic spreads over fresh fire in Gariahat, no casualty reported

Kolkata: Almost a month after a massive fire gutted the two sari shops at a five-storey building in Gariahat, another fire broke out in the charred portion of the same mansion on Sunday, as smoke was seen billowing from the burnt debris.

Ajoy Dey, the treasurer of Gariahat Indira Hawkers' Union, said: "It has been a month since the broke out in the area, but all these days, there has been no sign of pocket fires in the debris. On Sunday night, I saw smoke coming out of the remnants on the first floor of the building."

"Although, the fire had been doused immediately after it occurred, there is a risk factor involved as we are still working in these conditions. We know what we are doing is unsafe but we have to make our ends meet. If we do not put up shops for a day, we will incur a massive amount of loss and we won't be able to feed our families," he said. One fire tender was immediately rushed to the spot and there have been no casualties in the incident, a senior officer of Kolkata Police said.

He further said the police had tried to find out if pocket fires were left in the debris. A preliminary investigation by the fire brigade revealed that one of the labourers, who have been working to clean the burnt debris, may have sparked the fire from the cinder of a bidi lit. A fire brigade officer said partially burnt silk saris were still lying in the debris and if they had caught fire, the flames would have spread. On January 20, a major fire had broken out at the five-storey building in South Kolkata, destroying goods worth lakhs and gutting multiple shops next to the building. "We had given a list of 52 hawkers and the government has provided Rs 20,000 to each one of us. Apart from this, the government has also allotted stalls for us, which has been designed according to our needs," said Dey.