Inspecting the spot in which more than 10 workshops were gutted in a fire on Sunday on West Perumal Maistry Street, Madurai Central constituency MLA P.T.R.P. Thiagarajan said that the district administration should consider the incident as a rare case and provide compensation to the affected shop owners.
“It appears that compensation from government is not available for such fire accidents in commercial establishments. However, owners of some of the small car tinkering workshops said that they could not afford insurance. Hence, the government should compensate them,” he said.
Mr. Thiagarajan suggested to the shop owners to form a committee and come up with an assessment of the damage.
AssuranceHe assured the owners that he would take up the issue of compensation with the Collector.
He also visited the adjoining thickly-populated residential blocks, which escaped the fire. Mr. Thiagarajan said that all shops that were gutted had shanty construction.
“The fire did not spread to buildings that had brick or concrete walls. Hence, when these shops are rebuilt, the district administration should ensure that they have proper concrete structures,” he said.
He also pointed out that having godowns for wooden materials and welding workshops were a lethal combination.
“It is miraculous that no one was hurt yesterday. Adequate safety measures should be ensured in future,” he added.
