Police Bazar fire: Smoke billows after 48 hours of the blaze, Meghalaya CM visits site

CM Sangma said that a cabinet meeting on October 18 will be held to discuss the entire matter

Even after 48-hours and several fire tenders trying to douse the flame at the Thana Road in the busy and popular Police Bazar area of Shillong smoke continues to billow. Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma visited the site today morning and took stock of situation and the damages because by the devastating fire on Saturday afternoon that killed one woman and gutted properties worth crores of rupees.

Chief Minister Sangma was accompanied by Chief Secretary DP Wahlang, Director General of Police LR Bishnoi, and other high-ranking officials. They inspected the site and conducted a comprehensive review meeting. The CM tasked officials with providing a detailed report on the incident and urged them to conduct comprehensive safety audits of the affected building to determine the fire’s origin.

Expressing his deep concern for the affected families, Chief Minister Sangma, said “The incident had the potential to be disastrous as it was in the middle of the market area which was congested and was difficult for fire service to come in. It was a challenging task, but all concerned departments and officials, especially fire service, Army, Air Force, Assam Rifles, BSF, police, administration, and the community all came together to contain the situation.”

He lauded the efforts of all stakeholders, who ensured that the fire did not spread out from the affected building to the other adjoining buildings and houses. He informed that a detailed investigation would be conducted on the incident to ascertain the cause of the fire.

“We will closely look into the matter and come up with a response mechanism on how we can contain and avoid such a situation in future”, he said.

He said that the building had several godowns which made the entire operation challenging but all stakeholders have shown their utmost commitment in dealing with the situation. He said that safety audits and other measures will also be undertaken to ensure that such situations do not arise in future. He also said that a cabinet meeting on October 18 will be held to discuss the entire matter.

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