A massive fire broke out in Moti Bazar in Chandni Chowk that gutted close to 80 shops, damaging property worth over Rs 1 crore late on Monday night. The fire was finally brought under control by the firemen who battled for several hours. The topography of the areas prevented the free movement of fire engines and compounded the loss. However, there were no casualties in the blaze.
The fire is suspected to have been caused by a short- circuit.
According to an official of the North Delhi Municipal Corporation, an old house in the area that was engulfed by the fire also collapsed. However, no casualties or injuries were reported due to the collapse.
The incident also triggered a war of words between the BJP and the AAP over the role of area MlA Alka lamba, who was seen on a hydraulic crane of the fire brigade during the dousing operation.
“The fire broke out in Katra Dhuliya, that houses a cluster of cloth shops late last night,” said a senior officer of the Delhi Fire Services.
As many as 29 fire tenders were rushed to the spot and the fire was brought under control by 3.30 am. Since the fire broke out at night, the shop owners and workers were not present, he said.
Police said that the cause of fire is still under investigation. Prima facie, it is suspected that the fire could have started due to a short-circuit.
The cooling operation is still on. The local traders claimed that the fire had caused them losses worth over a crore.
In a statement, the NMC said that the Dangerous Building Cell officials were at the site and were keeping a vigil on the affected structures.
They said that after the firefighting operation is completely over, they will be carrying out an inspection of the area and dangerous portions will be demolished.
The BJP filed a police complaint against lamba accusing her of “hindering” the operations while the MlA said she was called to the site to “manage” the crowd when the blaze broke out.
Delhi Fire Services officers said that the MlA neither participated nor disrupted firefighting. lamba said she had reached the spot at 11 pm after receiving a call from the local market association.
“At around 2 am after the blaze was largely extinguished, Fire Officer Rajesh Pawar asked me as the area MlA to help in managing the crowd. The local BJP councillor made the situation unruly by shouting slogans against me while I was trying to control the crowd,” the Chandni Chowk MlA said.
The BJP termed lamba’s getting into the crane as a “mischievous act” that hindered the operations and delayed the process, increasing the risk of spreading the fire.
“We demand registration of a criminal case into the incident,” BJP leader Nupur Sharma, who lodged a complaint with the police, said.