A massive fire broke out at Unit-I market around 1.30 am, destroying over 40 shops and goods worth lakhs of rupees, with no casualties reported.
Civic authorities have begun assessing losses, promised government assistance to affected traders, and announced plans to strengthen fire prevention measures at the market.
More than 40 shops were gutted and goods worth lakhs of rupees were destroyed in a major fire at Unit-I market in Bhubaneswar in the early hours of Tuesday, police said.
The blaze broke out around 1.30 am, and it took over three hours for 13 fire tenders and nearly 80 personnel to bring the fire under control. No casualties were reported, officials said.
Chief Fire Officer Ramesh Chandra Majhi said efforts to contain the fire were hampered as the shops were located very close to one another, leaving little room for the movement of firefighters and equipment.
Another fire official said two people were asleep inside one of the shops when the fire broke out but managed to escape without injuries.
Later in the morning, Bhubaneswar Mayor Sulochana Das and Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) Commissioner Chanchal Rana visited the site to take stock of the situation.
Das said the fire spread rapidly as many of the shops were constructed using plastic materials. She added that the dense clustering of shops in a limited area had led to repeated fire incidents in the market.
"As many as 40 shops and some vending carts were destroyed in the fire. To assess the losses, our emergency response teams and two teams from the tehsils have been deployed. Necessary government assistance will be provided to the affected shopkeepers," Rana told reporters.
He also said excessive use of plastic coverings in the shops contributed to the scale of the fire.
Rana added that the Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) had recently sanctioned over Rs 20 crore for introducing special fire prevention measures at the market. A detailed project report will be prepared within a month, following which a tender will be awarded to carry out the work.
The BMC commissioner said enforcement drives would continue to remove encroachments from the market area.
Meanwhile, the entire Unit-I market was closed for the day to facilitate cleaning and restoration work.
(with PTI inputs)
