Delhi: 20 shops gutted in fire at Jhandewalan, none dead

No casualty was reported from the fire spot, they said, adding that they suspected that a short-circuit may have led to the fire.

At least 20 shops, offices and godowns and property worth lakhs of rupees were gutted after a fire broke out at the Jhandewalan cycle and toys market near Videocon Tower in central Delhi on Friday afternoon. Delhi Fire Services rushed 27 fire tenders to the market to douse the flames, officials said, adding the firefighting operation continued for three-and-a-half hours, while the cooling operation continued till late in the evening.

Firefighters try to douse fire that broke out in the godown of a shop, at Jhandewalan Cycle Market, in New Delhi. (Sanjay Sharma)

No casualty was reported from the fire spot, they said, adding that they suspected that a short-circuit may have led to the fire.

Delhi Fire Services (DFS) chief Atul Garg said that at 2.05pm, the fire control room received a call regarding a fire at shop number 39A in the Jhandewalan cycle market. “We immediately rushed 27 fire tenders. Our firemen controlled the blaze by 5.30pm but continued the cooling operation until later. Nobody died o was injured in the fire. Nearly 20 shops, godowns and offices were gutted, though,” he said.

Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain tweeted about the incident. “In an unfortunate incident, a fire broke out in Delhi’s Jhandewalan cycle market near Videocon Tower. 27 fire tenders were rushed to the accident spot. Our brave fire fighters have successfully controlled the situation. No casualties have been reported so far,” he wrote.

However, in the wake of the Mundka building fire that claimed 27 lives and two more fire incidents in which two people were killed in the last week, local shopkeepers panicked as soon as they saw three shops go up in flames. Many downed their shutters and rushed out to avoid any mishap, a local shopkeeper said, requesting anonymity.

Varun Kumar, the owner of a shop close to where the fire broke out, said, “There was panic around the market as the fire was first spotted in three shops and soon spread to some godowns in the basement and also to the offices on the first floor. Although the exact value of the gutted property can be evaluated only by the owners of the gutted shops, the losses must be over ₹1 crore.”

DFS director Garg said that the congested road and parking area led to a few difficulties in carrying out the firefighting operations. The fire spread quickly because of the presence of highly combustible materials like plastic items, polythene and tyres in the shops and godowns, he added.

On Thursday, a 42-year-old man was killed and six others were injured when a fire broke out at an electric goods factory in northeast Delhi’s Mustafabad area. On Tuesday, the manager of a banquet hall in northwest Delhi’s Ashok Vihar died after a fire broke out in the four-storey building and he was trapped on the first floor.