Fire at Gaffar Market burns 10 shops

Although no casualty was reported since the incident took place past 10 pm when the market was closed, yet the mishap highlights the lack of fire safety and preparedness on the part of the shops which are located in the congested lanes of Beadonpura, where the incident took place.

Moreover, this incident raises questions on the safety of thousands of electronic goods shops in Asia’s busiest market, Gaffar Market, that are flocked by lakhs of people every day. Senior Delhi Fire Services officials shared that since the building which caught fire was established long time back, the fire department has no say in the fire audit as per the new law.

Eyewitnesses said that the incident took place at around 10.30 pm when a security guard sensed smoke coming out from the first floor of the four storey Net World Plaza building in the market. A fire department official said that while it took them more than one-and-half hours to control the blaze, the electronic goods present in the shops started a fire again.

As per the Delhi Fire Services, 15 fire tenders were pressed into action at the building. “Within a couple of minutes, there was a blast after which I called others and then fire officials and the local police was informed,” said the guard.

Located in the congested lanes, the Net World Building comes under the Beadonpura Market Association. While no representative of the Beadonpura market association was available for a comment, local shopkeepers present at the spot shared that located adjacent to Gaffar Market, Beadonpura is a ticking bomb as there are more than hundreds of shops next to the building which caught fire.

Sources said that it was due to the timely intervention of the fire department that more than 50 shops next to the Net World Tower were saved from being turned into ashes.

Dheeraj Kumar, who owns a mobile repairing shop on the ground floor, whose shop survived the fire, told Millennium Post: “It is mostly shops on the first, second and third floor which were burnt to ashes. The fire broke out probably due to a short-circuit. Since the shops have mobiles and related tools, it flared and spread on all the floors.”

“The fire officials were able to control the fire. However, at 2 am, the fire started again in the building,” added Kumar.