As many as seven shops were gutted in a fire that broke out at Lakkar Bazaar, Shimla on late Monday night. While no loss of life was reported in the incident, property worth lakhs of rupees was destroyed in the fire.
Police said they had received a call around 12.18 a.m. after which eight fire tenders were rushed to the spot to douse the flames.
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With most of the shops having wooden construction material, the fireman had a tough time in dousing the fire and it took almost six hours to bring the fire under control and save other adjoining shops.
The Fire Station Officer, Shimla Dharam Chand Sharma said the exact cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained, however, initially investigations points out towards short circuit as the main reason for the incident.
He said property worth lakhs of rupees have been damaged in the fire and timely information and action by the fire department had helped in preventing the fire from spreading to other adjoining shops and houses.
A case has been registered in this regard and further investigations to find out the exact cause behind the incident are on.
Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Tuesday visited the spot to take stock of the situation and assured the affected shopkeepers that the government would provide all possible assistance to them for restarting their business.
Education minister Suresh Bhardwaj and senior officers of the government were also present on the occasion. As of now, the Shimla district administration provided Rs 10,000 to the affected shopkeepers as an immediate relief.
