National Capital was kept on its toes as devastating fire incidents kept on taking place unabated in the year just gone by. The New Year 2020 too started on an ominous note as a blaze in a battery and inverter manufacturing unit in Nangloi, consumed the life of a young fireman Amit Balyan. 2019 witnessed over a dozen infernos which claimed scores of precious human lives. The most deadly was the fire in Anaj Mandi in the Walled City area that took away 43 poor labourers. Every time political leadership and the bureaucracy have been found wanting as corrective measures that were promised to prevent such tragedies from happening, remained only on papers. Even if some measure were put in action but that was not enough to make Delhi a safe city for the poor dwellers. The Pioneer looks back on fire incidents that were reported in 2019 and also delve into the factors that were responsible for deaths caused by fire.
Several unauthorised colonies across the city, availability of cheap labour and use of residential buildings for commercial purposes are few of the many factors which lure owners to establish illegal factories. The year 2019, saw five major fire tragedies claiming 81 lives in national Capital. Irony is that the fire incidents which occurred in illegal manufacturing units and hotel located at Karol Bagh, Zakir Nagar, Sudarshan Park and Anaj Mandi in National Capital did not have any 'No Objection Certificate' (NOC) issued from Delhi Fire Services (DFS) department.
Just after the tragedies, the favourite pastime of passing the bucks begins; DFS blames civic authorities while civic authorities blame Delhi government. But the core of the issue remains the same, the illegal factories in residential complex and hotels without 'NOC' and safety equipments continues to run abated, risking lives of several innocent people working and living there. These tragedies are grim reminder that civic agencies don't learn lessons from past tragedies as they wait for another to happen.
On December 23, 2019, a massive fire ripped through a three-storey residential-cum-commercial building in outer Delhi's Kirari area, killing at least nine people, including three children.
On December 8, 2019, a massive fire ripped through a factory in Anaj Mandi area of north Delhi, leaving 43 labourers dead and many others injured. The fire broke out in the second floor of the four-storey building in the early hours and 30 fire tenders were pressed into service.
On August 6, 2019, five people were killed and 11 injured in a massive fire at Zakir Nagar area, in Delhi. According to the fire department, information regarding the incident was received at around 2.30 am, following which eight fire tenders were rushed to the spot. The fire occurred in a four-storey residential building due to short circuit in electric metres, which was doused by 5.25 AM.
On February 12, 2019, a massive fire swept through a four-floor hotel in central Delhi's Karol Bagh, killing at least 17 guests, including a child and two people who jumped off the building in a desperate bid to save themselves. The blaze, in which 35 people were injured, started in the second floor of the Arpit Palace Hotel in the heart of the national capital around 3.30 AM, trapping many guests who were deep in sleep.
On January 5, 2019 seven people died after a ceiling fan parts manufacturing unit running illegally in a two-storey building in Delhi's Moti Nagar area collapsed following an explosion in the gas compressor.
And these are not one-off incident as many areas where illegal factories operating in residential areas across the national Capital are ticking bombs and inviting incidents. These lives could have been saved had the Delhi Municipal Corporation authorities and other agencies acted timely, learning from the unfortunate Uphaar fire tragedy, which claimed 59 lives on June 13, 1997.
Sources in the civic bodies disclosed that these industries are illegal not only because they run from unauthorised areas, but also because they do not have the licence to operate. "It is totally up to the enforcement agencies to keep track of the polluting factories operating from residential areas," a source declared.
According to sources, there are more than 45,000 illegal manufacturing units operating in Moti Nagar, Kirti Nagar, Ramesh Nagar, Jangpura, Najafgarh and Mansarovar Garden, all in west Delhi, Bhogal, Ashram, Mahipalpur, Maharani Bagh and Jangpura in south Delhi, Gandhi Nagar, Jheel, Shastri Nagar, Kailash Nagar, Jafrabad and Shahdara in east Delhi; and Sadar Bazaar, Chandni Chowk, Malkaganj, Ballimaran, Lal Kuan and Kashmere Gate in north Delhi.
Other areas includes Karol Bagh, Patel Nagar, Anand Parbat, Rohtak Road, Rajinder Nagar, Old Rajinder Nagar in central Delhi, Shahdara, GT Road, Babarpur and Vishwas Nagar in northeast Delhi, and Burari and Jagatpuri in northwest Delhi.
According to Atul Garg, the Chief Fire Officer, DFS, the fire department had issued only 2372 'No Objection Certificates' issued till date for hotels and industrial purpose.
However, a senior Municipal Corporation official said that they have been carrying out sealing action against such units as per instructions of the Supreme Court, adding that many units were either found closed or vacant after a notice to that effect had been served.
But is this a reality, as claimed by Municipal Corporation. The Pioneer the visited Sudrahsan Park in West Delhi's Moti Nagar area where seven people died after a gas compressor blast and people there blamed civic authorities for the havoc in the area.
Harish Saini a resident of Sudarshan Park area told The Pioneer that this is not the only illegal unit in the area. Basai Dara Pur — cramped, dirty and jumbled — at Sudarshan Park area in Moti Nagar has several small illegal factory in two or four-stroyed houses running just stone's throw away distance from zonal office of South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC).
"We don't have any other option other than to work here. At least we are able to get one square meal for our family," said Ajit Kumar, who hails from Etawah in Uttar Pradesh and is working at Sudarshan Park in a shoe factory.
Farhan, a worker, told The Pioneer he had been working in a denim factory in the Bawana area for last five years. "I work and earn Rs 4,000 per month. This incident is shocking for us and I agree there is no provision for us to escape if there is some tragedy or a fire incident but for living we have work," he said.
Venting his anger over promises by local leaders for developing facilities and better working conditions for them, Rajendra, who works in a factory situated at a narrow and congested lane of Jangpura said that leaders talk about development but the ground reality is just the opposite.
"We have a family to run. Children to teach and a house rent to pay so why would I not work, knowing that there is risk to my life. Leaders come and shed tears, announce compensations but nothing happens on the ground. So what if seven lives were lost, people will forget it after sometime and things will be back to square one," Rajendra said.
The DFS in year 2019 recorded more than 22,840 incidents of fire in which there were deaths and injuries in over 2,372 incidents. The total incidents of fire in 2019 may be less compared to the previous year, but the number of casualties has increased in the city. Further 65-75 per cent of incidents of fire occur in buildings that house both residential and commercial units.