Day after,no clue what caused blaze

Even as fire-fighting operations continued in the popular Manish Market and Sara-Sahara Shopping Complex till late Sunday afternoon,the exact cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained.

Since morning,shop owners had gathered outside the markets in an attempt to step inside and salvage their belongings which had been spared by the fire,while fire officials were conducting cooling operations in the area. The fire was cooled by Sunday afternoon,but we have deployed a unit there just in case there is some emergency, Deputy Chief Fire Officer A R Patil said. Three fireman were injured during the fire-fighting operations on Saturday. They have been admitted at Nair Hospital and are reported to be stable,Patil added.

A major fire broke out at about 3.40 am on Saturday,engulfing the Manish Market,Sara Sahara Shopping Complex,Yaara Shopping Complex,Munim Compound and Greenhouse building,spread over an area of 15,000 square metre. There were no casualties,but the losses have been estimated at Rs 200 crore.

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Officials had said the fire seemed to have started from the Saara Sahara market and later spread to the Manish Market area due to heavy congestion of electric cables and the wind. We have registered a case of accidental fire. The cause of the fire is still not known,and the fire department will conduct an inquiry to ascertain how the blaze started, said Additional Commissioner of Police (South Region) Naval Bajaj. We have not received any information or evidence to suggest that there was any foul play, he added.

By Sunday evening,shop owners were retrieving their possessions such as air conditioners,television sets and boxes of goods that were not damaged in the fire. We are taking our possessions home as of now. We dont have an alternative place to do business yet. We will simply have to wait till the market is redone before we start our work again, said Asif Khan,who owned an electronics shop in Manish Market,as he was passing a television set covered with soot to a fellow shop owner.

Congress MLA Amin Patel said the focus was on putting out the fire and cooling the area,but over the next two days,authorities and the shopkeepers would recce the affected area and work out a restoration plan. Power supply to the areas areas near the complexes has been restored today, Patel said.

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