Fire guts Russell Market

Bangalore, February 25, 2012

More than 150 shops and goods worth crores of Rupees were damaged in a fire that ravaged Russell Market in Shivajinagar early on Saturday morning.



The fire, which started around 3.30 a.m. and lasted till 8 a.m., claimed no life. The vegetable, fruit and flower market on the ground and first floor, as well as the line of toy stores near the front of the entrance were completely gutted.



A total of 28 fire tenders were rushed to the market. Fire authorities at the scene said the fire, which started in the ground-floor vegetable market, could have started due to a short circuit.



Sagayanathan, who was sleeping in his shop on the first floor of the complex, said he was alerted by plumes of smoke around 3.30 a.m. "There was an over-whelming stench. We ran outside, to find that one side of the Market was ablaze," he said.



Livelihood



In the slush of ash, half-burnt vegetables and seared furniture lies Mustaq Sharief\'s livelihood for more than half a century.



"The shop was set up here by my grandfather when Russell Market was commissioned. We have lost over Rs. 80,000 worth of goods in the fire," he said.



Like Mr. Sharief, most traders in the market had inherited the business. Sundar Raj, who owns a toy store there, said the nearly 90-year-old business now faces an uncertain future. "I have lost over Rs. 2.5 lakh worth of goods in the fire. Being a physically handicapped person, this is the only trade I know," he said.



Sitting by their shops, they sullenly waited for officials of Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike [BBMP] to assess the damage to their property.



A new complex



On his visit to the complex in the morning, BBMP commissioner M.K. Shankarlinge Gowda assured the traders of adequate compensation. He also said that work on the construction of a new complex would begin "immediately".



With the roof showing signs of caving in, and with 100-year-old steel girders and columns (some of them wilted in the heat of the blaze) exposed, BBMP engineers who inspected the structure, said the complex could not be salvaged. "Some columns are irreparably damaged. The complex has to be razed completely and rebuilt," said an engineer from the Shivajinagar sub-division


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