ITANAGAR, Jan 10: A devastating fire at the state emporium-cum-artifact house building of the textile & handicrafts department, located opposite the police station here, damaged the new building along with four vehicles and destroyed stalls at the National Handloom Expo in which NGOs, SHGs, weavers and artisans from various districts and outside the state were taking part.
The department informed in a release that the expo has been closed following the damage to the handloom and handicraft products.
“The fire, which reportedly started from the ground floor of the new building between 2 and 3 am, completely gutted finished products like galeys, galuks, shawls, stoles, carpets, wooden statues, and several decorative items. It also destroyed the whole stock of silk products. The artisans/weavers and entrepreneurs who were participating/put up stalls have incurred huge losses as the stalls were filled with huge numbers of handloom and handicraft products and personal belongings,” the department said.
