A major fire swept through the Katra Bazaar vegetable market in Shikohabad, located in Firozabad district, destroying over 60 दुकानों and leaving traders with heavy financial losses.
The blaze broke out late at night in the nearly 150-year-old marketplace, known as one of the city’s busiest hubs for fruit and vegetable trade. The flames spread quickly through the densely packed rows of shops, soon reaching nearby commercial outlets. In addition to the vegetable market, seven other establishments, including a garment shop situated opposite the market, were also gutted.
By the time residents and shopkeepers became aware of the fire around 2 am, much of the market had already been engulfed. Initial reports suggest the fire originated in a single shop before rapidly spreading due to closely built structures and the presence of combustible goods.
Eyewitnesses described an intense scene, with flames shooting up to nearly 10 feet and thick smoke visible from kilometres away. Panic gripped the locality as the fire raged uncontrollably until emergency responders reached the site.
Firefighters from Shikohabad were the first to respond, but given the scale of the blaze, reinforcements from nearby stations were called in. A total of six fire engines battled the flames for nearly four hours before finally bringing the situation under control.
Traders reported severe losses, stating that both cash reserves and stock stored inside their shops were completely destroyed. Several shopkeepers estimated damages running into lakhs of rupees per दुकान.
Lakhs of rupees in cash burnt along with goods
The report said, who runs a shop in the market’There is a huge stock of vegetables in the market. There would hardly be any shop that doesn’t have 20 thousand to 50 thousand rupees in its cash box. Everything turned to ash in the fire. Our earnings from years of hard work were destroyed in a moment.’There are about 60 vegetable and fruit shops in the market. There are also 7 cloth shops adjacent to each other in the market.
Both markets were burnt to ashes. We traders have suffered losses worth crores. Even the dog living in the market cannot be traced.’Chief Fire Officer Satyendra Pandey said, ‘The team reached the spot as soon as information about the fire was received. Most of the shops in the market are vegetable and clothing stores.
This number is around 50-60. The cause of the fire has not yet been determined. However, it appears that it happened due to a short circuit.
