Seven stalls at the state-sponsored handicraft fair in Asansol were gutted after a fire broke out at a food stall on Wednesday afternoon.

Ministers Chandranath Sinha and Moloy Ghatak inaugurated the fair at the Polo Ground in Asansol town on Saturday.

Several stall owners complained there was no fire extinguishing system or firefighting engine stationed at the fair.

"The fire began from a food stall and spread to seven adjoining kiosks. We were helplessly looking for a firefighting engine but not one was found at the venue," said Jatish Das, a stall owner and artisan from East Burdwan.

He said the first firefighting engine reached the fairground 40 minutes after the fire started. Till the fire engine arrived, artisans at the venue tried to douse the blaze with buckets full of water from nearby taps, but it was not enough.

"We first went to the fair office on the venue for help but nobody was there. We are outsiders here and we did not know the contact numbers of the local police station or fire station. No one was present from the local administration to help us," said Archana Mondal, owner of one of the 26 stalls set up at the fair and an artisan from the Bankura.

The artisans said they had incurred a collective loss to the tune of a few lakhs because of the fire. The exact figure is yet to be estimated.

Slamming the administration, Das said: "Our handicraft items were completely gutted. Why did organisers allow food stalls and cooking at the fair? Why was there no firefighting arrangement?"

The artisans protested, raising these issues, when administrative officials reached the fairgrounds after the fire.

The officer-in-charge of industries in West Burdwan district Diksha Sherpa admitted that there was no firefighting engine present at the fair venue. "We will inquire into the matter," she said.

Officer-in-charge of Asansol fire station Debayan Podder denied the allegation of delay and said two firefighting engines were pressed into service immediately after getting information of the fire that was doused in around 30 minutes.

Additional district magistrate (general) Subashini E. said the affected artisans would be compensated.

Trinamool Congress West Burdwan chief Narendranath Chakraborty visited the fairground and spoke to artisans, promising all possible help from the government.

Local BJP MLA Agnimitra Paul said poor artisans had to incur losses because of the government and administration's negligence and mismanagement.