Fire probe at Burrabazar's Nandram Market

A forensic team will visit Nandram market on Monday afternoon to start a probe to find out what led to the fire on the ninth floor of the Burrabazar trade hub on Saturday.

Fire brigade officers suspect the fire was caused by a short-circuit in a garments shop on the ninth floor.

Saturday’s fire re-ignited memories of a 100-hour blaze at the wholesale trading hub 11 years ago.

Eight fire tenders brought the blaze under control in the 13-storey market on Saturday.

“We will visit the gutted godown on Monday afternoon,” a forensic official said on Sunday.

Police have cordoned off the 200sq ft garments godown that caught fire on Saturday so that no one enters the room before forensic tests.

Electricity had not been restored at the market till late on Sunday but traders were eager to open shop on Monday morning. “If electricity is restored, we have no problem in starting operations. There are 1,050 traders operating from this building,” said Arun Singh, a member of the traders’ association of the market.

A few labourers and some traders who visited Nandram on Sunday said the blaze couldn’t spread on Saturday because firefighting measures had been installed inside the market after the 2008 fire.

A fire brigade officer said water hydrants in building had worked initially but stopped after power supply was cut off. Another officer said they would try to find out whether the building had a no-objection certificate from the fire brigade.