By Our Jiribam Correspondent
JIRIBAM, April 6: Around 30 shops were burnt down to cinders at Jiri Keithel in Jiribam this morning around 2:30am. Even though the fire tenders arrived on time, the fire fighters had to toil hard till about 5am to control the fire owing to water scarcity in the area.
However by the time the fire was controlled, 30 shops had already been razed down to the ground.
The fire tenders were assisted by the Jiri Police OC L Khogen Singh and police and VDF personnel, Foreigner Check Post OC Muhindro and staff and CID officials.
The origin of the fire is yet to be ascertained. Considering the scarcity of water in the area, the Jiri OC even provided water tankers in trying to control the fire.
The burnt down portions of the market includes small hotels, shops selling ngari (fermented fish), clothes, fertilizers and godowns. Meanwhile, certain individuals who had assisted the fire tenders appealed to the concerned authority to modernize the machinery of the fire tenders.
Shop owners also expressed their anguish over the inability of the authorities to provide water during the inferno. The total cost of the casualties is yet to be affirmed.