The shop owners of Bidhan Market — the largest retail hub of Siliguri — whose shops were gutted in a blaze on Saturday will get financial assistance from the state
government, chief minister Mamata Banerjee said here on Sunday.
The Siliguri Municipal Corporation (SMC) will rebuild their shops, she added.
Mamata, who reached here on Sunday on a two-day visit, said: “We will provide a compensation of ₹1 lakh to six shop owners whose shops got completely damaged in the fire. Others, who have suffered partial damages, will get an assistance of ₹50,000.”
“I have also asked Gautam Deb (the mayor of the SMC) to reconstruct their shops. They have suffered the loss ahead of the festive season and we should stand in their support,” the chief minister added.
Sources in the market said that 23 shops in all were either completely or partially damaged in the fire.
Located in the heart of the city, the are over 1,600 shops in the crowded market. These include shops selling garments, electronic articles, essential commodities, cosmetics, footwear and household items.
Earlier on Sunday, representatives of the Bidhan Market Byabsayee Samiti flagged some demands for the improvement of the market and the enhancement of fire safety at the site.
Among these were the construction of a water reservoir, putting fire tenders at a nearby spot and handing over the land rights to the traders.
The market is located on land owned by the Siliguri Jalpaiguri Development Authority.
Most of the shop owners do not have land rights.
In the evening, state power minister Aroop Biswas, who is accompanying Mamata on this north Bengal trip, went to the market with mayor Deb. They spoke with the traders and assured them of all help.
Bapi Saha, general secretary of the Bidhan Market Byabsayee Samiti, said they were thankful to the chief minister for promising financial assistance to the affected shop owners at such a time and for her instruction to the SMC to rebuild the damaged shops.
“We also thank minister Aroop Biswas and our mayor for listening to us and for assuring us that the issues we have raised would be addressed in due course,”
said Saha.