A Major fire broke out in the basement of Abhishek Textile Market on the Ring Road here on Wednesday night,in which over 25 shops and godowns of sarees and dress materials were gutted. While no casualty was reported,the damage is estimated to be in crores of rupees. The fire was noticed by the buildings security guard,who first found smoke coming out from the basement. When he went inside,he saw fire coming out from one of the shops. The guard immediately informed the president of the market and then called the fire control office. By the time the fire brigade reached there,the fire had spread to all the shops and godowns located in the basement. After a struggle for more than 10 hours and use of 10 fighters and 11 water tankers,the fire was brought under control around 8 am on Thursday. Several shops situated on the ground and first floors were also damaged. Fire officer G G Barhatt said: We found difficulties in combating the fire as the area was congested and we had to park our vehicles at some distance. The basement was around 20 feet deep and it was difficult to go inside. We are trying to find out the cause of the fire.
