Fire breaks out in multi-storey building in Ludhiana’s Feroze Gandhi Market

A fire broke out in a multi-storey building housing a private bank in Feroze Gandhi Market here on Tuesday morning, causing panic in the area. The timely action by the firemen saved the fire from spreading further to the adjoining and nearby commercial buildings. When the fire broke out, the entire market was closed, as it usually opens at 9 am. Although no major damage was reported, the front portion of three to four floors was damaged by the flames, and one adjacent building also faced minor damage.

According to the information, the fire broke out around 8.30 am. After receiving the information, three fire tenders immediately reached the spot and started dousing the flames. The fire was completely doused by the firemen in less than one hour, with only one fire tender being used. Sub-Fire Officer Dinesh Kumar said that when the firemen arrived to douse the flames, they took almost 40 to 50 minutes to control the fire completely.

Interestingly, all floors had a fire safety system installed, but it was locked and couldn’t be used. Hence, the firemen sprayed water from outside and controlled the situation. Kumar added that some documents and furniture of the private bank housed in the building were damaged, but there was no major loss reported.

Meanwhile, Feroze Gandhi Market Association Traders and Property Owners Association raised concerns over the incident. The association president, Er PS Gill, stated in a statement that despite two high court orders in 2010 and 2019 regarding the need for decongestion of the five parking lots in this congested market, one of the measures introduced was hourly parking. The Municipal Corporation (MC) of Ludhiana needs to mark parking lots, fire lanes, tow-away zones, and other basic steps to avoid congestion and facilitate the entry of fire tenders and ambulances at all times.

The chairman of the association, Col (retd) Harjap Singh, said that the MC has installed fire hydrants in each of the parking lots but has done nothing to mark the parking lots. Encroachers also create traffic chaos in the market. The positioning of a fire tender can enable a quick response without getting stuck in traffic, especially in congested markets and the DC complex. Luckily, the fire occurred during early hours when Ludhiana traffic was minimal, and not many vehicles had arrived at the parking lots, allowing the fire brigade to reach the spot in time.

It is worth mentioning that in Bangalore, about 600 cars were burnt in parking lots due to the absence of organised parking and the inability to drive out cars from jam-packed parking lots. The association requests the MC Commissioner to call a meeting to discuss the progress on basic firefighting actions pending to be taken by the MC in the five parking lots of this market.