Property worth over Rs 2 crore damaged in Kinari Bazar
Delhi Fire Service (DFS) officials had to battle for more than three hours to bring the fire under control that had taken place in congested Kinari Bazar in the Walled City area. According to preliminary information, nobody was injured but over 25 shops were gutted.
The fire broke out following short circuit in an electric transformer in the surrounding area of the busy market. Though no causality was reported but according to an estimate, property worth over Rs 2 crore was damaged. Kinari Bazar is a popular wholesale market for dressing material and bridal wear.
Delhi Fire Service had deployed 22 fire tenders to control the blaze from spreading as Kinari Bazar is densely populated and the access to the fire tenders were hampered by the narrow lanes and bylanes.
The pathetic condition of the street could be imagined by the situation that even DFS tenders were left stranded at the main road some 200 metres away as there were no space for the fire engines to move in. The fire officials took help of water pipes to overcome the situation which in turn took several hours. The fire was aggravated since the lanes and bylanes were filled with inflammatory substances.
According to the DFS officials, a call was received around 2.30 pm that an electric transformer owned by discoms had caught fire and the shops in the vicinity were affected too. There are hundreds of shops and the topography of the area is such that fire can spread rapidly. Over a dozen fire engines were pressed into service to douse the flames. As the fire spread in the nearby shops 22 fire tenders were pressed into service. The fire was brought under control by 6.05 pm but the damage to over two dozen shop was done.
Ashok Kumar, a cloth shop owner in the Kinari Bazar market accounts the tale of the horrific event which took place on Monday. He said, “The shops were bustling with customers like any other normal day. Suddenly there was a short circuit in the area which could not be controlled. The transformers in the streets are not covered in a proper manner and have live wires which eventually caught fire and the situation just went out of control.” He further added that he lost goods and clothing materials worth Rs 5 lakh.