Four charred to death at Sultanpuri shoe factory
NEW DELHI: Four workers, including two minors, were killed in a fire at a shoe-manufacturing unit in Delhi’s Sultanpuri in the wee hours on Monday.
Police, during its initial investigation, have found that a short-circuit may have caused the fire, but are looking at other angles. The police have also arrested factory owner who has been accused of running the factory without a proper licence.
Atul Garg, Chief Fire Officer, Delhi Fire Services (DFS) stated that they received a call around 6.35 am from A-block, Raja Park in Sultanpuri regarding a fire incident. More than five fire tenders were rushed to the spot. “The blaze took place in a four storey building. Fire teams started their rescue work and doused the fire around 10:10 am,” said Garg.
Over two-dozen workers were sleeping in the first and second floors of the three-storey building when the blaze started. All, but four escaped, an officer said.police took the injured ones to a hospital where they were declared dead.
The deceased have been identified as Razi Mohammad (20), Shan Mohammad(17), Ayub (17) and Mehboob (18). They all belonged to Asmada village in Uttar Pradesh Hardoi district. Ayub and Mehboob were siblings, a police official said.
The unit was run by a person named Brijesh Gupta, who lived in the same locality. The building was used for manufacturing shoes and housed around 25-30 workers, he said.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer) MN Tiwari stated that they had registered a case under sections 285 (Negligent conduct concerning a fire or combustible matter) and 304A (Causing death by negligence) of IPC at Sultanpuri police station.
Meanwhile, another fire was reported around 12.55 pm Monday at Kucha Mahajani in Chandni Chowk, where a 22-year-old man was killed, the police said. Monday’s deaths take the toll in fire incidents in Delhi over the past 72 hours to seven.
Two persons had died in a fire at a footwear-manufacturing unit in Narela on Saturday, while a 62-year-old shopkeeper died in a pre-dawn blaze at his shop in Sarita Vihar area on Sunday.
NEW DELHI: Nothing was learnt from the Bawana factory fire which killed 17 people. Factories are still running in residential areas without proper fire safety arrangements and escape routes, which risks the lives of labourers as well as those of other residents.
During the investigation of the building where a fire incident was reported, it was found that it did not have NOC related to fire safety. “It was running in an unauthorized building in a residential area. So, no NOC was given to the building,” said a senior fire official. According to the residents of Raja Park where the building was located, it had more than 1,000 people living there.
At the spot, it was found that the gate of the building was broken. It is being investigated whether the door was closed during the fire which resulted in the deaths. Atul Garg, Chief Fire Officer, Delhi Fire Services (DFS) stated that the building had fewer escape routes due to which the labourers were trapped in the fire. Reports were also coming that the fire started from the electronic meter which is being verified by the police.
An MCD official stated that they have been conducting raids on such type of units to stop illegal activities. “No license was given to the factory as it was situated in a residential area,” said the official, adding that they only give license to factories in industrial areas. “Bawana and Okhla are the industrial areas for factories,” said the official.
At the spot, SDM Rohini Nagendra Tripathi was taking note of the situation. He stated that the building was situated in an unauthorised colony. When asked why there was a factory running in the residential area, the official claimed that it was an apathy which Delhi is facing. The area where the incident was reported was very congested. Adding to the worry were several gas cylinders inside and the residents feared that they might explode but after cooling, the situation turned normal. The data accessed by the
Millennium Post stated that in 2017, DFS had received approximately 23,417 calls (until October 23) which included incident related to fire, sewer, road, drowning and building collapse. In 2016, the number of calls were around 31,304. The data further stated that in April and May, the highest number of calls were received by DFS which were 3,395 and 2,994 respectively.
In 2016, 3,300, 3,560 and 3,645 calls were received in April, May and June respectively. In July 2017, a less number of calls have been received compared to the rest nine months which was 1,931 whereas in 2016 during the same month, 2,255 calls were received.