‘Highly inflammable materials stored in building’s basement’

NEW DELHI: The initial report of the fire department states that “highly inflammable” materials were stored in the basement of the building in Palam, where a recent fire incident occurred, Delhi Home Minister Ashish Sood

said on Monday.

Sood accused the AAP of playing “blame game” and “vulture politics” in the matter while blaming the previous government for not taking initiatives to modernise the fire service. There was no immediate response from AAP on the matter.

“The initial fire report in the Palam incident states that only a single staircase, from ground to terrace floor, was present, which was not accessible from outside of the building,” Sood said in the Delhi Assembly.

Materials involved, such as garments, cosmetics, thinner, perfumes, and nail polish, which were highly inflammable, were kept in the building’s basement, the

minister further said.

“Despite all this, our government did not engage in ‘blame politics’. I express grief, and I stand with the family in this difficult time, along with the entire government. Within two hours, a magisterial inquiry was announced by the CM, and an ex gratia amount was announced,” Sood added.

Sood, in his statement, also listed out several previous fire incidents, including the Bawana Industrial area fire in January 2018, the Arpit Hotel fire in February 2019 and the Anaj Mandi fire in 2019, saying that the previous government just had a “passing the buck” attitude.

“During such a serious discussion, the opposition is outside, which shows their attitude. Several recommendations to modernise the fire department in 2019 were not fulfilled; however, no steps were taken till February 2025,” Sood further said.

The minister said that since the BJP government came to power, several initiatives, including the revamp of wireless systems, deployment of 50 quick response vehicles and setting up a new Command and Control Centre for effective monitoring of fire-fighting efforts, are to be established soon.

Nine members of a family, including a 70-year-old woman and three of her granddaughters, were killed after a massive fire tore through a multi-storey residential building in southwest Delhi’s Palam area last week. Since the incident, AAP has accused the BJP government of lapses in the

fire-fighting system.