Srinagar, Jan 04: As many as thirty shops and a residential house were turned to ashes after a massive fire broke out in a market in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district early Thursday morning.
According to reports, a fire broke out in the Dar Gali Bus stand area in the wee hours of the morning. However, there was no loss of life or injury to anyone in the incident.
Residents and police, along with fire tenders, rushed to the spot to douse the fire, they said, adding that as many as 30 shops, as well as a residential house, were gutted in the blaze.
Property worth crores has been damaged in the inferno, the officials said. “Several fire tenders were pressed into service to douse the blaze,” they said, adding that the fire was brought under control with the active help from locals and police.
Locals said that goods of different varieties in the shops were completely damaged in the blaze while a residential property owned by one Bilal Ahmed Dar was also gutted in the fire incident.
Police and civil administration officials rushed to the spot to assess the situation. Deputy Commissioner Kupwara Ayushi Sudan, who assessed the quantum of loss, assured the victims of all possible help.
The affected shopkeepers said they had lost everything in the blaze, adding that the fire had not only snatched their livelihood but also shattered their dreams.
An elderly shopkeeper told Rising Kashmir that he has a large family on his shoulders but lost his lifetime earnings in the blaze. “I had never thought such a disaster would happen to me that would bring me to the road,” he said.
With teary eyes, he continued, “Like me, there are dozens of people who have lost their lifetime investment.”
The affected shopkeepers have urged the district administration to rehabilitate them, even though the district administration has assured them of help.
