The massive fire that broke out in a sprawling textile trading market in Surat around midnight on Tuesday continued well into Wednesday (September 9) afternoon, destroying huge consignments of finished textiles goods ready for delivery to other states ahead of Dussehra and Diwali.
There were no human casualties in the fire at the multi-storey Shyam Sangini market on the eastern edge of Surat, the country’s synthetic textiles capital. The fire fed on the vast stacks of synthetic, plastic, cardboard materials in the market, Fire authorities said.
“The fire began in a passage on the sixth floor of the market and spread in both directions, burning through parcels of fabrics that were packed and kept ready to be shipped. Due to synthetic materials, plastic packing bags, and cardboard boxes, these items burned to ashes. The fire also engulfed shops, burning all textile stocks and furniture in them,” Chief Fire Officer of the Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) Basant Pareekh said.
An injured fireman Praveen Patel seen taken out from Shyam Sangini Textile market. (Express Photo by Hanif Malek)
Fire officers were still carrying out cooling operations, Pareekh said on Wednesday afternoon. One fireman who was injured has been admitted to hospital, he said.
The Shyam Sangini market is a six-storey building with a total of 284 blocks comprising large shops, each of area around 2,000 sq feet. On Tuesday night, shopkeepers had left the packed fabrics in the passage before leaving for their homes; delivery vehicles were supposed to pick up the consignments later in the night.
“The fire spread to a few shops on the fifth floor as well,” Pareekh said. The Fire safety clearance for the market had been renewed recently, and the fire extinguishers were in working order, but the intensity of fire was very high, the officer said.
“Our teams broke the glass windows on the outside of the shops to let out the smoke. It was difficult to enter the fifth floor and sixth floors as the entire passage area was full of thick smoke.More than 150 firemen from the various zones of the SMC were involved in dousing the fire,” Pareekh said.
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The firefighting operations continued through the night, and the blaze was brought under control after a full 12 hours, he said.
“Cooling activities are presently in progress. The cause of the fire is still not known,” Pareekh said.
Traders who own shops in the market rushed to the complex in the middle of the night hoping to save valuable items and important documents including order and account books and records of business, but were not able to enter, Anoop Jalan, the president of the Shyam Sangini Textile Market Association, said.
Hansraj Jain, president of the Federation of Surat Textile Traders Association, also went to the market. Top SMC officials, along with Mayor Mayaben Mavani and Standing Committee chairman Rajan Patel, visited the market and spoke to the traders.
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“For the upcoming Diwali, Navratri, and other festivals, the traders had kept a huge stock of fabrics in the shops and godowns in the market. The number of shops gutted in the fire and the precise quantum of loss will be known after the Fire officials complete their work,” Jalan said.
Surat is the country’s foremost hub of synthetic textile sarees and dress materials, with nearly 75,000 trading shops. Some 250-300 truckloads of fabrics leave the city every day on average for wholesale and retail markets in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Delhi, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, and the Southern states. Some shipments move by rail as well.
Kamal Saiyed is a senior Correspondent for The Indian Express, providing extensive, on-the-ground coverage from Surat and the broader South Gujarat region and the Union territories of Daman, Diu & Dadra Nagar Haveli. With a reporting career at the publication spanning back to 2007, he has established himself as a high-authority voice on the industrial, social, and political pulse of one of India’s fastest-growing urban hubs.
Expertise
Industrial & Economic Beat: Based in the "Diamond City," Saiyed offers expert reporting on the diamond and textile industries. His work tracks global market shifts (such as De Beers production changes), local trade policies, and the socio-economic challenges facing the millions of workers in Surat’s manufacturing hubs.
Civic & Infrastructure Coverage: He consistently reports on urban development and public safety in Surat, including:
Traffic & Urban Planning: Monitoring the city's 13-fold increase in traffic violations and the implementation of new municipal drives.
Public Safety: Investigative reporting on infrastructure failures, fire safety NOC compliance in schools and commercial buildings, and Metro rail progress.
Political Reporting: Tracking the shifting dynamics between the BJP, Congress, and AAP in South Gujarat and the neighboring Union Territories (Daman, Diu, and Dadra & Nagar Haveli).
Crime beat: Armed with a good source network Saiyed has been able to bring out the human side of crime stories in his region ... Read More
An injured fireman Praveen Patel seen taken out from Shyam Sangini Textile market. (Express Photo by Hanif Malek)