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Sameer Singh
Tribune News Service
Bathinda, February 16
A fire broke out allegedly due to a short-circuit at Sirki Bazaar late on Friday night. As per the information received, no casualty or serious damage was reported as the fire was controlled in time. Local shopkeepers informed the authorities after which a fire tender of the Municipal Corporation reached the spot and managed to bring the flames under control.
According to the members of the market committee, wires tied to the electricity pole was said to be the reason behind the fire. The shopkeepers said in the past also, fire incidents have taken place in the market due to wires being clumped together on the electricity poles.
Power supply in the area has remained suspended for over 12 hours and repair work was on till afternoon on Saturday as well. After the fire, clumps of of burnt wires fell off on the road. The fire broke out at around 11:30 pm and after half an hour, when the power supply was stopped, fire safety personnel managed to bring it under control.
Kartar Jaura, Chairman, Punjab Pradesh Beopar Mandal, said, “A major tragedy was averted as shopkeepers living near the area where the fire broke were alert. They informed the Powercom authorities after which the power supply to the area was discontinued. It prevented the fire from spreading further. Apart from the electricity wires, there was a clump of wires tied to the electricity pole along with the wires of the cable TV, telecom company and broadband. We have informed the Powercom department officials regarding the illegal practice of using electricity pole for tying wires on many occasions, but nothing has been done by the authorities concerned in the matter till now. A broadband company had laid the wires in the area on Friday.”
Jaura added, “We demand strict action against those responsible for the incident. We also demand that an FIR be registered against the culprits. Fires due to clumps of wires have caused damage to the shops in the market in the past also, but the authorities concerned did not take any action against those responsible for reasons best known to them.”
Surinder Pal Garg, Sub-Divisional Officer, Technical-II, Sirki Bazaar, said, “After being informed, we managed to carry out the repair work on time and power supply in the area has been resumed now. The wires of the cable TV, telecom company and broadband were tied to the electricity pole. The fire broke out possibly due to a short-circuit. We will ask the parties concerned to remove the wires from the electricity pole and ensure that there is no congestion of wires in the area. If they do not follow our instructions, we will be issuing notices to the violators.”