India, May 1 -- A day after a raging blaze gutted Link Square shopping complex in Bandra, shopkeepers who both rented and owned the 220 stores in the building milled around the ruins, coming to terms with their loss. They were busy filling out panchnama forms handed to them by the police, to record the goods they had lost in the blaze, and to distinguish tenants from the shop owners.

"Shop owners and restaurants will have insurance, so they can recover their losses. But what about other shops? Who will compensate us," said Shoaib Khan, who rented a store in the complex.

The shopkeepers said the shops stored goods whose value ranged from Rs. Rs.lakh to Rs.5 crore each. "In April, everyone stocks up because footfalls increase in May. Just...