Delhi: Old Govindpura fire raises workplace safety questions

Families of the victims alleged that the employees used to work with various combustible substances in extremely small rooms, with no fire exits in the building. Police said allegations are being verified.

Allegations regarding lapses and dangerous working conditions inside a four-storey building in Shahdara surfaced on Wednesday, a day after a massive fire broke out at the location that killed two men and severely injured others.

At the spot of the fire at Old Govindpura in east Delhi on Wednesday. (Sonu Mehta/HT PHOTO)

Families of the victims alleged that the employees used to work with various combustible substances in extremely small rooms, with no fire exits in the building. Police said allegations are being verified.

Police are also yet to identify the owners of the commercial units operating in the building, and the building owner himself.

At around 8.45pm on Tuesday, a series of small explosions followed by fire trapped at least 10 people inside the building in Old Govindpura area near Jagatpuri.

Locals and firefighting officials told HT that nearly seven to eight hours later, another fire broke out in the same building due to the presence of combustible material which caught fire again.

According to the police, multiple commercial units were operational inside the building — a powerbank battery assembling unit on the first floor, and an Indian ethnic garments workshop on the second and third floors . The ground floor had rooms for a few workers.

The fire had started from the first floor. Five workers were present there at the time. While three managed to jump and save themselves, two of them hid inside the washroom and died due to suffocation and burn injuries, said the police.The deceased were identified as Md Nusrat, 20, and Md Tanveer, 28. The injured were identified as Faizal, 21, and Asif, 18. The fifth worker, Musharraf, 25, escaped unhurt.

Musharraf said, “We assemble batteries and also charge the powerbanks. I think one-two devices got overcharged and its battery exploded, leading to the fire. It all happened in seconds. We tried to run but the explosions kept getting bigger.”

Nusrat was the eldest among three siblings, and is survived by his parents and siblings who live in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh. His family said he had been working at the factory for five to six years now.

“We only know that a man named Tasleem had given him the job. We had seen the building and its packed between houses and shops. Everyone knows it was risky to work there but Nusrat was supporting us. They were made to work for 10-12 hours in a small room with hardly any space. We just want justice. He was our bread winner,” said Nusrat’s father Mohabbat Ali.

Sukhvinder Singh, a neighbour, said, “I was inside my house when I heard the explosions. I heard men screaming for help.”

On 4am on Wednesday, a fire broke out again at the same location. DFS confirmed the second fire and said two fire tenders were sent and the “small fire” was controlled.

In the morning, street was lined with small lithium batteries.

“We didn’t know that so many batteries were being packed inside. Our house is adjacent to the building. Anything could have happened,” Singh added.

The other deceased, Md Tanveer, was a resident of Shahdara but was temporarily staying at the building. His brother in-law Riyaz Ahmed Khan said, “He wanted to become independent and also pay off his father’s debts. We found out about the fire in the morning.”

DCP (Shahdara) Prashant Gautam said that a case has been registered unidentified people, and inquiry is being done to nab the accused the lithium battery factory owner.