A fire broke out at the makeshift shanty stalls (locally called jhupri market) beside the main market in Salt Lake.
The fire was noticed at around 5.15 am. Twelve fire tenders were pressed to service and the fire was doused at around 8.45 am.
One BMC worker was reportedly injured in the fire. Some 20 stalls were gutted in the mishap. All kinds of stalls, mostly food stalls some of which had cooking gas cylinders were stored inside. A few of them exploded during the fire causing flames to spread.
An adjacent bamboo godown of a local decorator which also stored wooden furniture and other inflammable articles also provided fuel to the fire.
Bidhannagar police commissioner Gaurav Sharma visited the spot. He said the cause of the fire could not be ascertained until forensic tests were conducted.
The fire has been doused totally, and a cooling process at possible fire pockets is currently on.