A fire threat that refuses to die down

IN THESE FACTORIES, WHILE MANY WORKERS EAT AT THE SMALL EATERIES OUTSIDE THE FACTORIES, THERE ARE SOME WHO PREPARE THEIR OWN MEALS IN THE FACTORY PREMISES

Bawana

15,000 a month. His wife, Radha earns about Rs 9,000. The two work in a plastic slippers factory in Sector 5. “We sleep in the same room...after finishing work every evening, we shift the machines and the raw materials to one corner and sleep there.” Chaudhary said he had heard about the Bawana fire tragedy but there is little he can do. “We come from places where there is abject poverty... We can either worry about money or safety.”

In these factories, while many workers eat at the small eateries outside the factories, there are some who prepare their own meals in the factory premises. There are around 12,500 functional factories in the area.

“Yes i t i s unsafe but i t i s cheaper. Our factory owners do not allow us to cook inside. But we hide the stoves in the room and cook,” said Anil Singh, 35, who works in a plastics factory.

Fire department officials of nearby Bawana fire station say that in summer, they get about 15-20 calls from the industrial area every month. The calls could be related to a fire in a factory or a garbage dump outside the factory. The workers dump flammable items used at the factories in the garbage dump outside.

Sri Ram, 70, who works at a plastic slippers factory, claims to be one of the persons who survived the January 2018 fire. He says that on that fateful night, he had stepped out for a smoke and was not inside the factory when the fire broke out. “Even today, I check the doors of the factory where I work to ensure that they are not locked from outside. At 70, I wish I could leave this place and return to my village in Sitapur, UP. But I am too poor.”

NEW DELHI: It took ten months, 17 lives and a massive fire at a guest house for government agencies to step up fire safety regulations at central Delhi’s Karol Bagh.

Hindustan Times on Monday conducted a spot check of Karol Bagh — where a pre-dawn blaze on February 12 this year — had prompted Delhi government to notify amendments to the building bylaws to strengthen fire safety norms in Delhi.

While dangling wires outside buildings and cramped passageways, especially in back alleys, were red flags in some of the properties, in six of the ten guesthouses visited by HT on Monday, the reception desk had fire safety pamphlets for guests and extinguishers hanging in the hallway. In three guesthouses, smoke detectors were also seen in the roof of common area.

Shop owners and regular visitors at the market said that after the fire, inspections by local municipality and Delhi government officials had been stepped up and has been happening regularly. The North Delhi Municipal Corporation’s redevelopment plan for Karol Bagh market has also helped the area remain in the centre of police and civic agency’s attention. “Inspections have been happening and the north corporation has been paying special focus on hotels and guesthouses. It has certainly earned the trust of locals but we will have