MALVIYA NAGAR INFERNO DOUSED
NEW DELHI: A ‘serious' category fire that broke out in a factory situated at south Delhi's Malviya Nagar on Tuesday evening was finally doused on Wednesday afternoon, after services of helicopter buckets from the Indian Air Force were brought into action.
Delhi Police said that they arrested the owner of the factory Sanjay Saini on Wednesday, as he did not have proper license from the municipal corporation to run the unit, had no safety equipment in place and risked several lives.
A case under sections 285 and 336 of the Indian Penal Code has been registered at Malviya Nagar police station.
Delhi Fire Services (DFS) said that though the fire was doused off, cooling operations were under progress till late Wednesday night.
Meanwhile, the District Magistrate has written to Delhi Police and Municipal Corporation of Delhi regarding the incident.
Police said the blaze started around 5.00 pm on Tuesday near Sant Nirankari School, regarding which a PCR call was received at Malviya Nagar police station.
On enquiry, it was found that a truck loaded with rubber compounds at a godown situated at Malviya Nagar's Khirki Extension had caught fire.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Romil Baaniya said the cause of the fire is still unknown, adding that the case is being investigated from different angles, including a short circuit in the godown.
A possible reason, sources said, could be that the truck was loaded with combustible materials and chemicals, and its engine could have heated up, which led to the fire in chemicals.
Sources also believe that someone threw a bidi or cigarette in the truck, which caused the blaze.
Police added that fire is still smouldering in the eastern corner of the godown, owned by one Maxwell Pvt Ltd.
The company is involved in the business of providing rubber raw material for re-threading of tyres.
"Flammable rubber compounds stored in metallic and plastic boxes caught fire and moderate winds also caused the flare up," said the DCP, adding that 65 fire tenders reached the spot and while five more were brought in later.
Cops stated that 13 buildings, a school and a gym near the factory were evacuated for safety reasons.
A government official claimed that when they saw that the fire was spreading, services of helicopter buckets from IAF were requested to extinguish the fire.
At least three sorties were made by the chopper.