Bhagirath Palace fire: Two buildings fall after blaze; narrow lanes hit rescue operations

Delhi Fire Department chief Atul Garg said the fire has been doused but small fires will continue to occur till the entire material present in the buildings has not been extinguished, which is a part of their cooling-off operations

Firefighters on Friday afternoon doused a massive blaze that broke out at Chandni Chowk’s Bhagirath Palace market, around 15 hours after it was first reported, fire service officers involved in the operations said. Four buildings collapsed and around 150 shops were gutted in the inferno, with traders calling the blaze the biggest tragedy for the market in recent times.

A team of firefighters spraying water at shops of Bhagirath Palace market gutted by the fire, in Chandni Chowk in Old Delhi on Friday. (ANI)

The fire control room had received a call reporting the incident at around 9.20pm on Thursday, said Delhi fire officials, adding no deaths or injuries were reported.

Delhi Fire Department chief Atul Garg said the fire has been doused but small fires will continue to occur till the entire material present in the buildings has not been extinguished, which is a part of their cooling-off operations.

According to the Delhi Fire Service, the fire started at one shop in a narrow lane and quickly spread across the entire street, impacting shops on both sides. “About 80 fire tenders were pressed into service to put out the blaze, which was doused at around 12pm on Friday,” a fire service official said, on condition of anonymity.

The official said that at present, cooling-off operations are underway. “More buildings can collapse any time, and they are showing all the signs of it. They have tilted and developed cracks, which is the biggest giveaway. The shops were selling electronics, which means that after the fire, they would have produced high amounts of heat. If we try to expose these to oxygen, then they are likely to explode. Therefore, we’ll wait till after the cooling-off operations,” he said.

According to the Delhi Fire Service, every time a fire breaks out in old Delhi, the area’s congested lanes, shortage of water and weak structures become hurdles during fire fighting operations.

Delhi Fire Department chief Atul Garg said to douse the fire, fire service officers had to first break the pillars erected on the lane. He added that while water pipelines have been laid down in the area under the new redevelopment project, they are yet to be functional.

“We had to seek help from the Lal Qila metro station. Members of the Gurudwara Sis Ganj Sahib were also very kind as they provided our teams with water, tea and food through the night,” Garg said.

Manmohan Jain, 73, a trader, blamed the short pillars on both sides of the street for the fire taking so long to be doused. “Because of those pillars, fire tenders couldn’t reach the street. They had to be broken first. It was only after breaking them that firefighters could lay the hoses and reach the impacted area,” he said.

Ajay Sharma, president of Delhi Electricals Traders Association, said, “The lanes are congested and wires are entangled. There are frequent sparks and there is always a possibility of a short circuit. We