80 e-rickshaws, 10 cars gutted in parking lot fire
HT Correspondent
NEW DELHI: At least 80 electric rickshaws were gutted early on Wednesday morning after a fire broke out at a parking lot adjacent to the Jamia Millia Islamia Metro station in southeast Delhi, officials aware of the matter said, adding that nobody was injured in the blaze, which likely broke out due to a short circuit in a charging cable.
Delhi Fire Services (DFS) director Atul Garg said the department received a call reporting the fire around 5am, after which 11 tenders were pressed into service.
“The fire in a Metro parking lot engulfed 10 cars, one motorcycle, two scooters, 30 new e-rickshaws, 50 old e-rickshaws. No casualty was reported in the incident,” Garg said.
Residents of the area told the department that the fire broke out after a spark in a cable that was being used to recharge an e-rickshaw. To be sure, DFS officials said they are yet to ascertain the cause of the fire, which was put out by 7.40am.
Abdul Wajid Khan, the area councillor, said the area was earmarked to park e-rickshaws for the last two years.
“We have been told that there was a short circuit in the cable used for charging,” Khan said, adding that cars and two-wheelers were also parked in the designated parking area.
Fire leaves incomes destroyed
E-rickshaw drivers in the neighbourhood said the blaze wrecked their livelihood.
“The fire has definitely affected our daily earnings. We have to look for alternative ways to earn our daily bread now. Many of us are solely dependent on earnings we receive on a daily basis,” said Mohsin, who goes by a single name.
Abdul Kadir, who said a car he used to rent for work was destroyed in the blaze.
“It wasn’t my vehicle, but our business will be affected for 15 or 20 days. All the vehicles that got burnt used to be given on rent. Some of us are also not able to get in touch with the owner of the vehicles. We are hoping to receive help at least for our daily survival,” Kadir said.
Rajamani Krishnamurthy, who managed an e-rickshaw renting business, said over 90% of his vehicles were charred and it will take around a month to revive the losses.
“It is difficult to immediately estimate what the total loss is... I will have to bear the expenses of it completely. I am a little worried about how the e-rickshaw drivers will manage, because it will take more than 20 to 25 days to revive the business completely again. It is a huge business loss,” Krishnamurthy said.