JAMMU — At least a dozen shops were gutted after a massive fire broke out at the historic Warehouse Nehru Market in the heart of Jammu city on Sunday night, officials said on Monday, in the most devastating of 64 fire incidents reported across the Jammu region during Diwali celebrations. No casualties were reported in the market fire, and the exact cause of the blaze is yet to be ascertained.

Source: PTI via KIMS Kashmir

The Fire and Emergency Services Department said the fire began in one of the shops at around 9.15 pm and spread quickly to adjoining establishments due to the storage of edible oil. The market, in the Bikram Chowk area, is one of Jammu's oldest wholesale hubs for foodgrains, essential commodities and other daily-use items, and has been serving traders, retailers and consumers since the 1950s. Fire tenders from different stations across the city were rushed to the spot, and officials said the closely packed shops and warehouses posed a major challenge before the flames were brought under control by around midnight, with two tenders still at the scene afterwards.

Traders allege delay; officials dispute the charge

Warehouse Association president Deepak Gupta alleged that a delayed response by the Fire and Emergency Services allowed the blaze to spread. 'What started as a small fire has engulfed around 15 shops… Despite the fire station being barely five minutes away, only two fire engines arrived after an hour and a half,' he alleged, adding that brigade officials did not answer phone calls at first. Gupta demanded accountability, including the suspension of officials concerned, and threatened an indefinite strike if the demand was not met. These are the association's allegations. Officials disputed them, maintaining that the fire call was attended to at the earliest possible, with two tenders from the nearest station rushed immediately and more mobilised from other stations, while teams were hard-pressed responding to simultaneous incidents across the region.

Source: PTI via JK Adworld

At the site, Divisional Commissioner Jammu Vikas Kundal said the fire had been largely brought under control, with Fire and Emergency Services personnel, police teams and the civil administration present and efforts under way to extinguish the remaining flames in the last one or two shops. BJP MLA Vikram Randhawa put the number of gutted shops at at least eight, with estimated losses of crores of rupees, and said the administration should have stationed two to three fire tenders at each major market — especially as the fire came days after a massive blaze in Shiv Market near the Jammu railway station destroyed dozens of shops.

64 incidents across the region in one night

Of the 64 incidents reported across the region, 11 were recorded till 5 pm on Sunday and the remaining 53 between 5 pm and 3 am, coinciding with Diwali celebrations and widespread bursting of firecrackers, Fire and Emergency Services officials said. Jammu district accounted for 30 incidents; Samba and Kathua districts together recorded 10, Doda nine, Udhampur and Reasi eight, Kishtwar three, the Rajouri-Poonch belt three and Ramban one. Other major Jammu district fires included a five-storey commercial building at Pahari Mohalla housing cloth and footwear shops, a medical-store building at Shalimar and a hardware godown at Gangyal. In Kathua, a store room at the district police lines caught fire at around 9.50 pm. Officials have not established any link between firecrackers and the Nehru Market blaze, and a detailed damage assessment was awaited.

Ministers react, relief ordered

Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh posted on X that he was 'deeply shocked' by the fire and the enormous loss to the business community and traders, and said it was disturbing to hear allegations that the fire brigade services were not prompt enough in their response, urging priority action. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah expressed deep grief and directed the district administration to provide immediate relief and all necessary assistance to those affected, besides conducting a thorough assessment of the damage, the Chief Minister's Office said. PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, who visited the warehouse area, also alleged a delayed and unprepared fire-brigade response. The allegations remain contested by the department.

Source: KNT via News Agency KNT