BHOPAL : A saw mill and a furniture shop owned by the same family were gutted in Barkhedi (Old Galla Mandi gate) area under Jehangirabad police station after an HT line snapped and fell down early in the morning on Monday.
Furniture shop “Suraksha Timber Trading” first caught fire. The fire soon spread to the nearby “Shakti Timber Trading” saw mill. Both the business establishments were owned by Mohammed Iqbal. He used to look after the saw mill while his son Shahid used to run the furniture shop. The tools used by the around 25 carpenters working with the furniture shop also turned to ashes.
Nearly 35 fire tenders were pressed to douse the fire. A big mishap was avoided as a petrol pump was located in the same vicinity. The losses are estimated to the tune of Rs 25 lakh. Fire tenders were summoned from Mandideep, Mantralaya, Sehore, PHQ and other places to douse the fire.
Mohammed Iqbal said, “It is our family business. I run the saw mill and my son Shahid runs the furniture showroom. Our business has been ruined. It was not insured so it is totally my personal loss. MP Alok Sanjar and MLAs Vishwas Sarang and Surendra Nath visited the place and assured Iqbal of all help as it was a big loss.
When the HT line snapped, we were informed by the guard.
We immediately informed the fire brigade and rushed to the spot. Fire tenders prevented the fire from spreading toward the ‘Kartar Petroleum’ petrol bunk of Jogindar Singh. In the meantime, my entire property was gutted,” Iqbal said.
Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) Fire officer Sajid Khan, talking to Free Press, said, “It was around 3.00 AM when we received the information about fire in the saw mill. We immediately swung into action and dispatched fire tenders. We checked the fire from spreading toward the petrol pump and residential areas otherwise it would have been big mishap”.
“It is summer so wood was burnt within no time. We succeeded in preventing the fire from spreading towards the petrol pump”, Khan added.
