A major fire mishap was today averted at a cracker market here when smoke triggered by an electrical short circuit was detected and the problem attended to on time.
Over 100 retail cracker outlets have been put up at the sprawling Island Grounds here for the Diwali festival.
About 20 feet from where the outlets have been lined up, a short circuit occurred at an electricity supply distribution box. This led to damage to electricity distribution cable and resultant columns of thick black smoke.
"Water had seeped into the electricity box due to rains and it had led to short circuit. This had damaged the cable and led to smoke," Station Officer, Fire and Rescue, A Rajasekaran told PTI, adding that, sand was used for putting out the smoke.
