Fire fighters battle for 6 hrs to control blaze in 16 shops
PORVORIM, DEC 20
A major fire destroyed 16 shops in the Mapusa market in the wee hours of Monday, causing an estimated loss of over Rs 1 crore.
It took 25 fire fighters and six fire tenders nearly six hours to extinguish the flames.
Speaking to Herald, Mapusa Fire Station In-charge D Redkar said the fire broke out at about 2.50 am and two fire tenders rushed to the market.
“As the lanes are very narrow, the fire tenders had great difficulty reaching the site. The fire was such that we had to summon fire tenders from Panjim (2), Pernem (1) and Bicholim (1). It took 25 fire fighters almost six hours to extinguish the fire,” said Redkar.
Efforts to save property were made difficult since the shops were closed at the time and fire fighters had to break open the locks.
“We, however, managed to save property valued at almost Rs 5 crore,” Redkar said.
“The exact cause of fire is not known and we have written to the Electricity Department to ascertain if a short circuit had led to the fire,” he added.
The incident had taken place at a time when shopkeepers had stocked additional goods in view of the Christmas festival and those shopkeepers who did not insure their products were the worst hit.
The shopkeepers who lost property in the fire were Gurudas Gadekar (fireworks, grocery), Abdul Sheikh (garments), Ankush Parsekar (garments), Azam Textile (readymade garments), Martin Enterprises (garments), Arvind Raul, Sanju Kurtiker (general stores), Nadir (fruit vendor), Akbar (fruit vendor), Hazmal (fruit vendor), Gajanan Arolker (general stores), Mahesh Dhargalker (general stores), Ravindra Kamat (general stores),Damodar Tivrekar (garments), Yeshwant Bondre (general stores) and Sameer Adam (garments).
Mapusa Merchants Association (MMA) President Yeshwant Gaudalker said at least six fire mishaps have taken place in the Mapusa market in recent times.
“We had, therefore, requested Mapusa Municipal Council (MMC) to install fire hydrants in the Mapusa market. MMC installed seven fire hydrants in the market but they were not connected to the main water pipeline despite repeated requests. As a result, the fire hydrants could not be used to extinguish Monday’s fire,” he said.
MMC treasurer Rama Raul pointed out that the fire station at Mapusa is ill-equipped with only two fire tenders.
“In the event of a major fire, they have to seek help from Panjim, Pernem and Bicholim, which is a time-consuming process,” said Raul.
“The Mapusa fire station has to cater to the entire Bardez taluka, which includes three industrial estates at Kharaswada, Tivim and Colvale. It is high time that the Mapusa fire station is upgraded and more fire tenders are provided to the fire station,” Raul added.
Responding to the comments of Gaudalker, MMC Chairman Sudhir Kandolker clarified that the MMC had requested the Public Works Department (PWD) to connect the fire hydrants to the main water pipeline several times, but they efforts had been in vain.
“We had also asked some owners of those shops gutted in fire to shift to the new shops allotted to them in the fish market. They had agreed to shift to the new shops after Christmas,” said Kandolker.
Director of Fire Services Ashok Menon and Bardez Deputy Collector Dashrath Redkar also visited the market to take stock of the situation. They later interacted with owners of those shops gutted in the fire.
