15 days after blaze, locals battle smoke in Chandni Chowk hub

The flames at the textile hub were so fierce that it took the fire department around four days to douse it. Traders allege that the shops are still smouldering

Parag Aggarwal coughs a couple of times, but does not miss a beat as he lays out a saree on a work table before him to display it to his customers. The 64-year-old has been operating this saree shop in the Chandni Chowk textile hub of Katra Marwadi for the last four decades, but over the fortnight or so, his business has been impacted — smoke emanating from the burnt-out husks of nearby shops has affected the flow of customers.

The shops that were gutted in a major fire at old Katra Marwadi Market in Chandni Chowk. (Sanjeev Verma/HT)

“The impact on the ground floor of our shop is slightly less as smoke naturally rises. However, for 4-5 days after the fire, it was so bad that we couldn’t even open our shop,” Aggarwal said.

The 64-year-old was referring to a massive blaze on June 13, which gutted around 160 shops at Anil Market in Katra Marwadi. Officials suspect the fire was triggered by a short circuit.

The flames at the textile hub were so fierce that it took the fire department around four days to douse it. Traders allege that the shops are still smouldering, but fire officials disagree.

When HT visited the spot on Wednesday, smoke was seen emanating from a pile of debris. The remains of a magenta and florescent green saree wrapped around an electricity pole stood out in stark contrast to the burnt remains of the market, while a pile of singed blouses were stacked up in one of the shops. The smell of burning wood and cloth lingered in the air, and soot marks on the walls of neighbouring shops guided passersby to the site of the fire.

A school in the neighbourhood — Marwadi Senior Secondary School – overlooks Anil Market, and is currently shut for summer vacations. However, principal Padam Bhushan Gupta, 59, who lives on campus, noted that schools resume on Monday.

“Not a single day has gone by when we haven’t breathed the air filled with smoke... Thankfully, the school was shut for students, and they didn’t have to deal with this, but it’s opening from Monday and we are worried for their health,” Gupta said, adding that he has written to the education department, asking for the school to remain closed for another 15 days because of the smoke.

However, Delhi Fire Services director Atul Garg said that fire tenders have visited the spot every time a call has been made. “Every call made to the fire department is recorded and the response to it is also documented. Fire tenders worked there (at Katra Marwadi) for four days and went when called thereafter,” he said.

Another fire official, on condition of anonymity, said that the blaze on June 13 was more or less brought under control in only eight hours, but as the shops were filled with flammable textiles and fabrics, small fires kept emanating from their ruins over the next three days.

Traders and residents said that they have not been allowed to get the smouldering remains removed by fire officials, and are not allowed to enter the premises. They said they believe that the smoke will stop only after the debris is removed, but are repeatedly stopped by officials, who are waiting for the Municipal Corporation of Delhi to inspect the site.

A 43-year-old trader, whose shop has been gutted said, “The smoke will finally subside after the debris is removed and we know what’s inside, but it has not been removed, and we have been advised by police to not touch anything till MCD inspects the site, because some of the buildings may have been damaged due to the fire.”

A senior police officer said they wrote to MCD to remove the debris on June 24. “You are requested to send your staff for inspection of site... It is also requested that burnt debris may also be lifted from the site,” the letter, a copy of which HT has seen, read.

An MCD spokesperson said the debris has been cleared from the public road and not from the private property. “The rules are nonetheless being examined if the same can be lifted by the corporation,” the spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, the traders affected are picking up the pieces, looking to move on from a tragedy that has drastically affected their livelihood.

A 39-year-old wholesaler, whose shop was gutted in the fire, said he has begun selling suits at a rented shop on an adjacent street. “The rent varies between ₹25,000 to ₹1 lakh, depending on the size of the shop. The prices have gone up because now there is a sudden hike in demand,” he said, not wishing to be named, adding that he lost goods worth crores in the blaze.

Another trader who was affected by the fire said he comes to the locality from his Gurugram house every day, but is yet to find a suitable shop on rent. “They are showing me places deep inside the market, where no customer will ever come. I am waiting for better options. It’s a huge loss,” he said.