Ludhiana eateries gutted | 2 proprietors to file FIR against the third, PSPCL

Owner of the vada pav eatery said that they were not in fault for the fire incident as a short circuit had taken place due to a short-circuit in the power supply lines in the corridor outside his shop in Ferozepur Market, Ludhiana ; PSPCL executive engineer says no one contacted him

Two businessmen, whose shops were also consumed by the rapidly spreading flames, have sought an FIR against the owner of the Vada Pav eatery, where the flames allegedly broke out, and the PSPCL.

Two businessmen, whose shops were also consumed by the rapidly spreading flames in Ferozepur Market, Ludhiana , have sought an FIR against the owner of the Vada Pav eatery, where the flames allegedly broke out, and the PSPCL. (Harsimar Pal Singh/HT)

Both complainants’ had just opened their establishments – Bite Crackers had been inaugurated on Christmas, while Chai Sutta Bar had opened three months ago. They suspect that the fire broke out to due to the negligence of the owner of Datta Bhau Vada Pav, who may have left a device operational, causing the mishap.

Chai Sutta Bar owner Riya said, “We had opened the eatery around three months ago, and have suffered a loss of around ₹12 lakh due to the blaze. All our electronic devices have also perished due to no fault of ours.”

Saying that they will lodge an FIR on Sunday, Bite Crackers proprietor Gaurav Dhanda said, “We have learnt that a few appliances and electrical switches in the shop had been left open, which caused the mishap. Besides, the fire fighting operation was delayed as the PSPCL staff did not snap the power supply in time. We will lodge an FIR on Sunday, seeking compensation for the loss from whosoever is responsible.”

“The flames might have been doused in time and the shops would have been had the PSPCL snapped the power supply in time. The allegations are baseless. I too have also suffered loss in the lakhs.”

Kochar Market police post in-charge Kulvir Singh said no complaint had been received so far.

“One of the shopkeepers had said that the fire broke out due to a short circuit, “ he said.

PSPCL executive engineer Rakesh Kumar said no one contacted him and neither had the staff has apprised him of any fire incident. “The department gets the power supply snapped by contacting the grid immediately after a fire incident is reported. There might have been some miscommunication on the part of shopkeepers. The PSPCL’s grid is situated near the DC office complex, a throw’s away from Feroze Gandhi market. The shopkeepers could have contacted the staff at the grid itself,” he said.