100 shops reduced to ashes in major blaze at Sambalpur

Sambalpur: The key city of western Odisha today woke up to a sad news as over 100 shops were gutted after fire broke out in Gol Bazar area here in the wee hours of Tuesday due to a suspected short circuit.

Around ten fire fighting teams were pressed into service, which took around three hours to douse the blaze. “Now, the fire is under control. As soon as we received the information, we immediately mobilised the fire brigade teams. The exact reason of the fire has not yet been ascertained, but electric short circuit is suspected to be the cause”, Collector Samarth Burma said.

He added that no causalities have been reported. “We will provide them relief after assessment”, he said.

Local shopkeepers alleged that some miscreants set one shop on fire, which engulfed the entire market. Based on the allegation, Collector ordered a probe in to the mishap to ascertain the cause of blaze.

Sambalpur MLA Raseswari Panigrahi, who rushed to the spot along with the Collector and SP, said the district administration is monitoring the situation. “The administration will assess the losses. We will try to compensate the shop owners from chief minister relief fund”, Panigrahi assured.