Five shops were gutted in a blaze in Burra Bazar, the largest marketplace in Alipurduar town, on Monday evening as firemen struggled to contain the fire due to encroached wetlands and narrow access roads.

The fire broke out around 7pm in a grocery shop and spread quickly, reducing five shops to ashes. Preliminary investigations suggest an electrical short-circuit triggered the incident.

A major wetland located opposite the market, which had earlier been a natural water source for emergencies, has been completely encroached and converted into a drain, leaving firefighters with no entry point or usable water.

Due to the absence of nearby water sources, firemen were forced to draw water from a private pond that is around 200 metres away, delaying the control of the blaze.

As the news spread, two fire tenders rushed in, but the congested and narrow lanes slowed down their movement.

It took nearly two hours to bring the blaze under control. The estimated loss from the incident is no less than ₹50 lakh, said sources.

Rajib Das, the Alipurduar fire station officer-in-charge, spoke of the challenges.

“Burra Bazar is the town’s main market, but there is no water source nearby. We had to fetch water from a private pond, which delayed operations. In almost every fire incident in the town, we face acute water scarcity. We have written to the authorities multiple times, but nothing has been done,” he said.

The fire tenders often exhaust their onboard water quickly, forcing firemen to rely on distant sources, Das added.

Members of the business fraternity expressed their disappointment and pointed out that water bodies across the town were encroached “openly” for years without
resistance.

Last week, a fire in New Alipurduar gutted another five shops.

Pulak Mitra, secretary of the local business association of Burra Bazar, said: “We will appeal to the civic body to clear the encroached wetland and restore it as a
water source.”

Asked about it, Prasenjit Kar, the civic chairman, said: “If we receive a formal proposal, we will consider it.”