Major Blaze Destroys Bandipur Market

From kashmir Observer
Srinagar, Jan 03, KONS: In yet another major blaze in north Kashmir, 38 shops were gutted in a fire in the main market of Bandipur on Monday, leaving property worth crores in ashes and scores without a livelihood. 
The locals vent their ire on the local administration and the fire services for their allegedly tardy response to the emergency, besieging the deputy commissioner of the district, but thanked the army and the BSF for their assistance in the fire-fighting operation. 
The blaze broke out in the Bandipur market early morning today, reportedly from a barber’s shop, and soon spread to other parts with flames that could be seen from a large distance, reports said. 
Though two fire tenders arrived on the scene immediately, they ran out of water shortly afterwards, holding up efforts to douse the massive blaze, locals said. 
The BSF and the army rushed their tankers to control the flames, but huge damage had been done by then, they said. 
Locals held demonstrations against the fire services and the district administration. 
They said that some unscrupulous elements had illegally occupied the Gadar canal, because of which the fire tenders had to go Papachan five km away to refill their tanks with water. 
The slogan shouting crowds in the gutted market besieged the deputy commissioner of the district , Manzoor Ahmad Lone, forcing him to take shelter in a nearby hotel where he was held up for nearly three hours before being rescued by his security guards. 
Meanwhile, an army officer’s residential quarter was completely destroyed in a fire in Anantnag.
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