Continued use of unsafe building behind Ponda market fire

Ponda: A fire on the midnight of March 29 at Ponda’s Upper Bazar area has once again put the spotlight on the lack of safety measures in one of the town’s busiest areas with several shops being affected by the blaze. While the authorities shifted all the shopkeepers to a safer building within the Upper Bazar area soon after the incident, the fire has raised serious concerns about compliance with safety measures.

Ponda Municipal Council chief officer Bhimnath Khorjuvekar said notices have been issued many times to shopkeepers directing them vacate the dilapidated premises as the structure had already been identified by the municipality as old, unsafe and requiring demolition and reconstruction. Despite this, said Khorjuvekar, many shopkeepers continued to operate from the location.

Locals also pointed to the absence of fire safety equipment and a valid no-objection certificate, highlighting lapses that may have contributed to the incident. Fortunately, no casualties were reported, and the situation was brought under control in time.

Devidas Naik, who runs a small shop near the site, said he received a call about the incident but by the time he reached the location, teams from the fire department and personnel from the electricity department had already begun efforts to contain the blaze.

Firefighters acted swiftly, dispatching two fire tenders that managed to contained the flames before they could spread to nearby structures.

Emergency services personnel said among the worst affected was a female vendor whose stock consisting of coconuts, oils and other local items were stored in a locked iron cupboard at the site. The fire resulted in an estimated loss of Rs 1 lakh to her.

While the exact cause of the fire is still being determined, police officers said that the likely cause was a short circuit.

An officer further explained that since the fire broke out in an open space, the situation did not escalate. However, he warned that if the fire had originated inside the building, the consequences could have been far more severe due to limited entry and exit points, with only a single door available and a secondary staircase directly connected to the main market area.