Night that turned Thane market into ashes: Two dead, 155 shops gutted in massive fire at Gaondevi market building

A major fire broke out around 330 am on Thursday at the Gaondevi Vegetable Market in Naupada Thane West claiming the lives of two people and causing extensive damage to shops in the twostorey market structureAccording to an official from Naupada police station the fire was first reported at 343 amThe police and civic officials are investigating the cause of the blaze while restoration and relief measures are being coordinated on a priority basisOne firefighter killed two injured in dousing operationSujit Pashte and Sameer Jadhav right receiving treatment in hospitalThe deceased have been identified as Thane Municipal Corporation TMC security guard Kalu Shankar Gadekar 55 and fire station officer Sagar Suryakant Shinde 42 Two others from the fire department mdash Sujit Pashte 45 and Sameer Jadhav 40 mdash sustained injuries and are currently undergoing treatmentOne of Phastersquos cousins said the family has not yet informed the injured men about Shindersquos deathldquoThe news was very shocking and this happened very early in the morning So far we havenrsquot informed the injured officers about Sagar Shinde as it may give them a mental shock They are not in a condition to handle such newsrdquo Phastersquos relative saidMeanwhile a relative of Jadhav said ldquoSameer is recovering and the family will speak to the media once he fully recoversrdquoGovt announces compensation rehabilitationCharred material removed from the siteFollowing the incident a joint meeting was convened under the direction of Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde The meeting was attended by Mayor Sharmila Pimpalolkar Member of Parliament MP Naresh Mhaske and Municipal Commissioner Saurabh RaoIt was unanimously decided to provide an immediate financial assistance of Rs 10 lakh each to the families of the deceased while Phaste and Jadhav will receive Rs 1 lakh each as aidAuthorities also announced that family members of the deceased would be given jobs in the municipal corporation on compassionate grounds as per government normsThe administration further assured that all the 155 affected shopkeepers would be rehabilitated at the same location by June 1The human cost behind 155 burnt shopsThe TMC plans to rehabilitate affected shopkeepers at the same location by June 1Officials confirmed that around 155 affected shopkeepers will be rehabilitated at the same location with restoration work targeted for completion by June 1 However the fire has left hundreds of traders devastated many of whom suffered severe financial lossesCop SpeakA police officerlsquoThe fire brigade was immediately rushed to the spot Initially only two shops one clothing and one footwear had caught fire but it later escalated into a massive blaze No FIR has been registered so far and an accidental report has been filed The investigation is underwayrsquoVoicesRavi Ram 65 garment seller from DombivlilsquoI lost nearly my entire stock in the blaze I used to sell jeans in Gala No 11 Around 330 am we got the news and rushed here Everything was burning Nearly 10001200 pairs of jeans were destroyed I have lost around Rs 4 lakhRs 5 lakh worth of goods My family of four depended on this businessrsquoPradeep Garat 60 flower sellerlsquoI have been doing this business for 40 years and have suffered a loss of around Rs 20000 We depend entirely on my business TMC says it will restore everything by June 1 but I think it may take at least two monthsrsquoRavendra Shantaram 54 western wear store ownerlsquoI have been at shop No 7 for over 30 years My losses could run to the tune of Rs 25 lakh This is a black day for us We have lost our daily bread We expect full compensation and our shops backrsquo