Over 100 shops gutted as major fire breaks out at Lajpat Rai mkt
New Delhi: One of Chandni Chowk's most crowded clothing and shoe market — the New Lajpat Rai Market on Thursday morning burst into flames as a massive blaze razed around 105 independent shop stalls, destroying stocks worth a few crores even as shopkeepers reeling under the losses from Covid lockdowns pondered about how they would pay their debts now.
The Delhi Fire Services said that they received a call about the fire around 4 and immediately rushed 13 fire tenders to the spot. Officials said the blaze was doused by 8:30 am but by that time an entire row of about 105 stalls had burnt to the ground. They added that no casualties were reported and that no major injuries were seen.
The DFS has said that preliminary inquiry suggests some cardboards caught fire first which led to a short circuit.
At the market, several low hanging electrical cables were burnt to a crisp.
Mehmood said, "We were sleeping here as we usually do. We keep stocks here, sleep here and live here. The fire started from the shops behind us and we woke up to loud noises and people screaming around 4:30 am. We saw that there were sparks all around us, bits of burnt plastic were falling from above and the trees were on fire. We ran for our lives. Everything else was lost."
Mehmood continued that everything he had — his stocks, documents were burnt in the fire. He also had Rs 20-25,000 in cash saved with his stocks - a month's savings - and all of it was ash by the time the fire was doused. Along with it his passbook, wallet and ATM cards were also burnt. "Thankfully, I had my Aadhaar and ID in my pocket when I ran," he said.
Another shop owner, 40-year-old Sanjay Sharma, had five stalls in the market — all gone in the morning fire. "I lost stoks worth at least Rs 15-20 lakh — all taken on loan. I hoped that since all of these are winter clothes, it is the right season so I will be able to sell them and make some money. Now, I don't know what I will do," he said.
Beside him, Waseem Akram, pointed to his friends who were sleeping in the shops when the fire started. "You see him, his clothes have holes. Burning plastic covers from the rooftops kept falling as they slept."
One Rahul Gupta, who had been running a shop in Chandni Chowk for over 25 years now and lost stocks worth lakhs in hours, said, "We want to rebuild here only but are incapable of thinking about that right now. Our brains have switched off." Beside him was Mehmood Khurshid, slightly younger, examining burnt up pairs of sports shoes —his stocks — all 500 pairs gone.
