The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : We are ruined, say shopkeepers

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Thursday, Mar 03, 2005

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

We are ruined, say shopkeepers

By Our Staff Reporter

Firemen checking for any embers at the Geetha complex on Wednesday. — Photo: K. Murali Kumar

BANGALORE, MARCH 2. A team of five experts from the Forensic Science Laboratory went round Geetha Complex, or rather what remained of the building, on Wednesday morning.

Their visit was to find out the probable cause of the fire and whether any hazardous material was stored in the complex.

On Wednesday, smoke was noticed at the complex around 11 p.m. and it was quickly put out by the firemen.

Meanwhile, not much was left for the owners of the shops to salvage.

Raju's whole rows of hosiery, Shibu's shoe stock, and Parekh's collection of dress material and old coins, were all destroyed in Tuesday's fire. They, along with owners of 150-odd shops and a restaurant in the complex, watched in dismay what the ruins revealed while the firemen went around making sure no embers were left.

Having watched the fire extinguishing exercise the whole of Tuesday night, the shopkeepers and the hotelier today entered their shops to salvage what ever was left intact there. Only a few could take back some of their undamaged wares.

"All my Rs. 10 lakhs worth hosiery stock has been burnt ... The fire has not left anything. I am left with nothing to support my six-member family. The fire has brought my family to the streets," said M.R. Raju, owner of Bhagyalakshmi Hosiery, in tears. For Shibu, the owner of Kunal City Shop close to where the fire first started, his entire stock of footwear was charred.

Bharat M. Parekh, who deals in old coins as well as garments, showed the coins that had melted in the fire. Several coins were old and priceless.

BESCOM blamed

The shopkeepers held Bangalore Electric Supply Company Ltd. (BESCOM) and Tallam Nanjunda Setty, the lessee of the complex, responsible for the accident.

"All the problems started after BESCOM started laying under ground power cables. The power to the complex came from a transformer on which sparks were noticed in recent days. Though we alerted BESCOM about it nothing was done," the shop owners complained. They also said unauthorised drawing of power from the transformer by some persons occupying the basement could be a cause for the fire.

Mr. Nanjunda Setty said the source of the fire was not anywhere within the complex but from power cables being laid outside for which the pavements had been dug up.

"There was a short-circuit in this cable and a fireball damaged some signboard and then a footwear shop caught fire and it spread," he said.

`No short-circuit'

"There was no short-circuit anywhere in the complex or in the basement. No cabling work was taken up anywhere inside the complex and the basement was not tenanted, despite sanction from the BMP. There has been no violation of the building plan sanctioned by the BMP. There was no negligence on my part or on the part of the tenants," he said.

According to BMP rules, only buildings with five floors and more come under safety norms prescribed for high-rises. Geetha complex has a basement and three floors above it.

The Governor, T.N. Chaturvedi, visited the scene of the fire on Wednesday.

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