The fire that broke out in Chandni Chowk’s Bhagirath Palace Market on Thursday night could not be completely controlled even on Friday. The fire is still smoldering in the closed shops. Rescue work is going on. Parts of several dilapidated buildings fell from the water’s edge. It may take two days to extinguish the fire completely. 40 fire engines and about 250 fire personnel are engaged in extinguishing the fire. So far, a loss of around Rs 500 crore is estimated due to the burning of 150 shops. Other parts of the market were also kept closed amid rescue operations. It is feared that the accident happened due to short circuit in the electric wire.
According to fire department officials, the shops were closed during the fire late on Thursday night. There was no one in the market. The laborers and security personnel sleeping outside the shops had escaped safely as soon as the fire broke out. There are shops selling electrical goods and equipment in Bhagirath Market. A fire broke out in a shop on Thursday night at 9:19 pm, which soon took a huge form. The fire engulfed several shops one after the other. Amidst the high flames, the sounds of explosions also started coming. About 40 fire engines were involved in controlling the fire, but the fire kept spreading to other shops. After this the fire was declared of serious category. Local people told that the fire has spread to about 15 small and big buildings. There are more than thirty shops and warehouses in one building. Fire department director Atul Garg says that it may take two days to get complete control of the fire. The fire official said that the firefighters controlled the fire after noon, but could not be completely controlled. Fire is burning in closed shops. The work of extinguishing the fire by breaking the shutters of the shops is going on. A fireman was also injured.
About 150 shops and godowns located in a street have been completely gutted. Parts of three to four buildings are falling apart. The loss in the fire is estimated to be around Rs 500 crore. – Ajay Sharma, President, Delhi Electrical Traders Association
Couldn’t do anything on the shop that kept burning in front of my eyes
First of all, the fire was reported in shop number-1868, then the people present on the spot put the video of the fire on the local WhatsApp group of the shopkeepers. The fire was rapidly spreading to other shops. Seeing this, shopkeepers immediately started reaching Chandni Chowk from their homes. Many shopkeepers were also accompanied by their families. This created an atmosphere of panic. Everyone wanted to save their shop from the fire somehow, but due to the fire and dilapidated buildings, the police and fire brigade personnel did not allow anyone to go there. The shopkeepers were watching the goods burning in front of their eyes, but were unable to do anything.
The fire took a terrible form due to electrical goodsBhagirath Palace is known for electronics goods. Due to the presence of electrical goods in the shops, the fire took a frightening form in the blink of an eye. Firefighters were trying to prevent the fire from spreading further. In view of the situation, apart from hydraulic crane, remote control robot was also called on the spot.
Blocks made of stones for the beauty of Chandni Chowk
The shopkeepers said that it took a lot of effort to move the fire engines inside the street where the fire broke out. For the beauty of Chandni Chowk, vehicles were not able to enter due to the stones on the side of the road. It took a long time to break the stones. Only after this the fire engines could go inside. By then the fire had spread to several buildings. Fire officials said only two vehicles could reach the outer side of the street. An attempt was made to extinguish the fire from the roofs with the help of pipes in the street. Due to falling bricks of dilapidated buildings, it is not possible to go inside the shops.