Around sixteen shops and a jute godown were razed to the ground at a local market in Haldibari town of Cooch Behar in the wee hours of Monday, leading to an estimated loss of around Rs 5 crores.

Sources said around 2am, private night guards spotted the blaze on Basanpatti Road while patrolling in the area. Shop owners and traders reached the spot as the news spread.

Initially, two fire engines reached the spot and tried to control the flames but the fire continued to spread. Later, one water tenders each from Jalpaiguri and Mekhliganj were brought. It took over five hours for the fire engines to douse the blaze.

“As there is no water pump or reservoir in the market, the firemen drew water from a pond located around 700 metres away from the site,” said a local resident.

Pradip Sarkar, the divisional fire officer of Jalpaiguri, supervised the work along with Gobinda Roy, the officer-in-charge of Haldibari fire station, and the blaze was doused around 7am. The market was kept closed for the day.

A delegation of traders has urged the Haldibari BDO for financial assistance and also demanded construction of permanent shops for them.

“Preliminary probe suggests an electrical short circuit caused the blaze,” said Roy.