Indore: More than 25 shops and goods estimated to be worth Rs 5 crore were reduced to ashes in a major fire that broke out in congested trading hub of Khajuri Bazaar on Wednesday morning. The narrow lanes posed problems for the firemen and policemen to start operation. No casualty was reported in the incident.The two basements of Rajguru market complex, where the incident took place, were completely gutted. Police said the fire broke out due to short circuit in the basement and it spread rapidly across shops. A teashop owner noticed the smoke at 6.30 am and alerted the traders. “When I reached my shop, I sensed a foul smell and then noticed smoke coming out from the basement of the complex,” said Amit, the teashop owner.Two fire tenders were sent to the spot but due to narrow lanes, officials faced problem reaching the complex. Police and locals also joined the operation. The building has no fire exit and the two basements had only one way to enter that too just 2.5 feet wide, said officials.Fire tenders from IMC and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) were roped in to douse the flames. Twenty five fire tenders were used in operation and officials had to demolish some shops to clear the path.“Due to complex structure of the market and lack of proper exits, fire tenders were unable to enter the complex. Firemen took around seven hours to get inside the complex,” said police fireman Sadik Khan.The rescue operation continued till late night as workers had to dig roads to reach basement. The building was damaged completely.City’s one of the biggest book wholesale complex has 40 shops and 60 businessmen depend on it for their livelihood. Many traders put their lives at risk to retrieve whatever goods they could, but nothing could be saved.Khajuri Bazaar Kitaab Vyapari Sangh president Pradeep Khandelwal said, “Since all the shops had huge stocks of books, the fire spread quickly. In the two basements, there are around 20 shops. The police and municipal corporation performed their duty but not on time.”Business will be affected for over a month and families will have to face hard time, Khandelwal feared. He asked the administration to help traders repair the complex and compensate them.“My whole stock destroyed and not just that, even the accounts and ledger bills were damaged,” said Himanshu Jain, owner of Kitaab Kunj located in basement 2 of building.

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