JAMMU TAWI: The Warehouse-Nehru Market federation on Monday announced a shutdown of Jammu’s largest wholesale grain market till Wednesday in support of the demand for strict action against Fire and Emergency Services officials whose alleged negligence contributed to the massive fire that gutted 10 shops the previous night.
Federation President Deepak Gupta said the decision was taken unanimously at a meeting of senior members, as no action had been initiated against the officials concerned.
“We are clearly stating that timely action by the Fire and Emergency Services Department could have prevented the extent of the damage. We demand strict action against officials whose negligence contributed to the incident. However, the entire administration cannot be held responsible,” he said.
“We are clearly stating that timely action by the Fire and Emergency Services Department could have prevented the extent of the damage. We demand strict action against officials whose negligence contributed to the incident. However, the entire administration cannot be held responsible,” he said.
Gupta said timely intervention by the administration and police prevented the fire from spreading across the entire market, but stressed that accountability must be fixed for the damage caused. He also appealed to political leaders not to politicise the tragedy, alleging that some were exploiting the incident for political gains.
Raising a long-pending demand, Gupta urged the government to allot land outside Jammu city for construction of godowns for Warehouse-Nehru Market traders, saying the lack of storage facilities had contributed to the spread of the fire as goods were kept outside shops.
He said the Federation had been pursuing the demand for nearly a decade and called for its immediate resolution to prevent similar losses in the future.