Fire breaks out at Panchkula gift shop

Tribune News Service

Panchkula, November 5

A fire broke out at a gift shop in Sector 11 here today destroying goods worth around Rs35 lakh.

The incident took place at Raghav Gift Gallery. A short circuit is suspected to be the cause of the fire. No casualty was reported in the incident.

Goods, majorly plastic products, were burnt, said fire officials, quoting the owner’s statement.

District reports eight incidents

As many as eight fire calls were received from across the district from Thursday evening till 5 pm on Friday. Tarsem, District Fire Officer

As many as eight fire engines from Sector 5, Mansa Devi Complex, Sector 20, Kalka and Barwala were pressed into service. It took firefighters at least two hours to douse the flames.

District Fire Officer Tarsem said they had received a call about the fire around 11:35 pm following which they rushed fire-fighting vehicles to the spot.

He said it took our 30 firemen two hours to extinguish the fire, adding that highly inflammable plastic products led to fast spreading of the blaze.

Haryana Speaker and local MLA Gian Chand Gupta visited the shop and announced Rs5 lakh from his discretionary fund to compensate the loss caused to the owner.

Terming the incident “unfortunate”, Gupta urged traders to register themselves under the Traders Welfare Board constituted by the state government under which insurance benefits up to Rs25 lakh are provided on the basis of the trader’s turnover to compensate for the loss of their stock caused by fire, theft, flood and earthquake.

On Tuesday, a major fire at a furniture factory in the Industrial Area, Phase 2, had left three persons, including two women, dead. Subsequently, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar announced a compensation of Rs2 lakh each to the family members of those who died in the incident and Rs50,000 to the injured. As directed by Deputy Commissioner Vinay Pratap Singh, the report on the incident is expected in two weeks.

Short-circuit suspected cause

• The incident took place at Raghav Gift Gallery. A short circuit is suspected to be the cause of the fire. No casualty was reported in the incident.
• Goods, majorly plastic products, were burnt, said fire officials, quoting the owner’s statement.