While life turned upside down for the 50-odd shopkeepers in Chandni Chowk whose establishments were gutted in a blaze barely 24 hours ago, it was business as usual for others as the bustling shopping hub in the walled city welcomed customers in droves on Friday.

Following the major fire that broke out at on Thursday evening and destroyed goods and property worth crores of rupees, the Delhi Police closed some parts of the affected Old Katra Marwari and Nai Sarak markets. Two buildings had collapsed due to the fire and water pressure.

This, however, did not deter people as they thronged other shops in the vicinity lured by the "huge sale".

"Dilli hai dil walon ki... there is a huge sale going on at many shops in the area. We know about the fire and we are not disturbing or obstructing the way of the fire brigade team. We are here only for shopping," Krishna, a 45-year-old woman, said.

"Delhiites never stop. I am sure this incident will not deter even the affected shopkeepers. They will start welcoming their customers once again and very soon," Devabrata Guha, who came from West Bengal to purchase a lehenga for his wife, said.

Meanwhile, smoke could be seen billowing out from different shops on Friday afternoon as fire tenders tried to douse the flames completely.

The affected shopkeepers, who have reported a loss of more than Rs 90 crore, could be seen standing near their establishments as they bewailed the loss of their livelihoods.

It was 4.15 pm on Thursday and shop owner Narendra, 60, was on a call with one of his customers when he heard people screaming.

"People were shouting about a fire. As our shop was in a narrow lane, I immediately asked everyone to evacuate. Within a few minutes, everything was reduced to ash," he said.

The shops that were gutted sold sarees, dupattas and other combustible items, according to officials.

"The flames of the fire could be seen from far away. I live near Bhagwati Market and the fire travelled within a few minutes towards the Bhagwati market area. The sounds of wailing fire brigade sirens and frantic whistling by policemen rented the air as people ran to save their lives," said Pappu, a worker at a shop selling dupattas.

Anil Kumar said his 60-year-old shop is in one of the narrow bylanes which he cannot enter as the operations are still on.

"I haven't seen my shop yet. I can only stand afar as the operation is still going on. One can easily make out those who are affected by looking at the despair on their faces," Kumar said.

According to officials, 50 fire tenders and 200 on-the-ground personnel had to be deployed to bring the blaze under control after a 12-hour effort.