JAMMU, May 9: Goods worth over Rs 2.5 crore belonging to nine firms dealing with cross LoC trade were completely destroyed in a devastating fire at Narwal Fruit and Vegetable Mandi here last night.
The mysterious fire which broke out at around 9 pm last night, engulfed the entire steel shed measuring nearly 200 ft x 80 ft within 15 to 20 minutes, located in IInd Phase of the Mandi. Majority of the goods dumped there were dry chillies and black Ilachi (Motti). Onion bags were also dumped at the extreme north end of the shed besides packing material including empty boxes.
The traders/ firms who lost their goods in fire include- M/S R R Traders, M/S Friends Sales, M/S Rupinder Singh & Co, M/S Anil Trading Co, M/S JP Trading Corp, M/S Rajinder Vaid , M/S JK Traders, M/S Som Nath Ravi Kumar and M/S Kartar Singh & Co. The loss of property was put at around Rs 2.5 crore by these firms.
Rajesh Gupta, President Jammu Fruit Traders Association disclosed that goods belonged to nine firms which deal with cross LoC trade via Chakkan-da-Bagh in Poonch. As the trade was suspended for the last nearly 15 days, the traders were bound to dump there goods at Narwal Mandi here. He said even some goods were lying in the open and covered with large Tirpols/Poly sheets. The fire started from right corner and soon it spread to the entire shed. Dry chilli being highly inflammable, took no time in catching fire.
Mr Gupta said entire market people rushed to the spot and informed Fire control room. Two tenders from Gandhi Nagar Station reached shortly but it was not possible for the two vehicles to contain it. Then more vehicles were summoned but it took about half and hour and even hour more to reach from Gangyal, Canal, City and Roopnagar Fire Stations. By that time entire goods had been engulfed in fire. He said Director Fire Service R S Sodi was himself supervising the operation and even the police had also reached there but the men from Fire and Emergency services failed to save the goods.
Senior Vice President of Chamber of Commerce and Industry Sham Lal Langar who is also executive members of Narwal Vegetable/ Fruit Mandi Association, disclosed that as shed was open from all the sides, due to flow of wind from all the sides the fire spread immediately. He said due to late arrival of other Fire Tenders from City, Gangal and Canal Stations, the goods could not be saved. He however, maintained that senior officers from Gandhi Nagar Station including Mr Sodhi reached there immediately and stayed till mid night, supervising operation.
Mr Langar said there was strong resentment among the traders dealing with PoK counterparts via Poonch. Their goods remained dumped here due to abrupt stoppage of trade. They were not given any prior notice. The goods which they had booked at different stations in the country, kept on arriving here and got accumulated for over two weeks. He pointed out that up to the limit of 25 trucks only the goods are allowed to be sent on that side but from Uri side even up to 50 trucks are allowed. Similarly, pine apple and `Apple Murabba’ which was not allowed by the Customs authorities via Chakkan-da-Bagh was allowed via Uri-route, which is unfortunate and discriminatory.
He pointed out that even 21 trucks of chillies were returned yesterday by the PoK traders at Poonch on the plea that Indian side has banned sending banana and mango. It was also stopped abruptly and traders had procured it from outside in huge quantity. There are no sufficient go downs to stock goods here. He demanded that traders be provided compensation by the Government.
Meanwhile, Minister for Health and Horticulture Sham Lal, accompanied by Divisional Commissioner, Jammu Pardeep Gupta and Director Horticulture visited the site at Narwal Mandi today. Chamber team led by its president Y V Sharma and members of Narwal Fruit and Vegetable Mandi Association were also there besides the traders who suffered losses. Y V Sharma, demanded that merchants dealing with cross LOC trade were instrumental in strengthening CBMs between two countries. They should be compensated adequately, he said.
The Minister assured that he will keep this plea in tomorrow’s Cabinet meeting in Srinagar and if the suggestion got enough support, the Government will try to provide compensation. He however, said that amount of damage was large but Government will try to give due consideration.
A senior officer from Fire Services said that immediate cause of fire could not be known but earlier, it was indicated some short circuit created sparks and it caught fire. He said goods were dry and fire took no time in spreading. He said it was not assessed immediately that such a devastating fire had taken place there. A total ten tenders and over sixty men were pressed into service. Even today, the smoke was coming out of the heaps of burnt chillies and onions when the team visited the site.
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