Surat Municipal Corporation Commissioner Shalini Agarwal said on Thursday that firefighting teams have been working continuously to control the blaze that reignited after being extinguished earlier.
Speaking to ANI, MCC Agarwal said, "The day before yesterday, a fire was reported here in the evening, which was extinguished, but yesterday morning, once again a fire was reported here, after which fire brigades are continuously working here... The fire departments of all the big private companies have also been brought here... Availability of water is also being ensured... Many departments are working together here. Coordination is being done with different departments..." Earlier in the day, Chief Fire Officer Basant Kumar Parikh said the high temperature inside the building is making firefighting efforts challenging. "The temperature is extremely high inside because there was a lot of material kept there. We got the first call yesterday at around 8 AM. We are not sure about the stability of the structure of the building. We are using a hydraulic platform and trying to douse the fire from outside. Almost 50 per cent of the stores have caught fire," he told ANI. Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Bhagirath Gadhavi said the entire area has been sealed off while multiple teams work to contain the situation. "Fire brigade teams are engaged in extinguishing the fire in the Shiv Shakti cloth market. The entire area has been cordoned off; the Police have evacuated the entire area. Police have also been deployed on a large scale. Work is being done to ensure that there is no traffic in the surrounding areas. All teams are deployed here. There are other shops here, so the Police are present here to ensure their safety. There are 800 shops in Shiv Shakti market, all shops are closed, shops in the surrounding markets have also been closed," DCP Gadhavi told ANI. (ANI)
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