New Delhi: A fire broke out at a shop selling mobile phone batteries in a four-storey commercial building in Delhi’s Gaffar Market early Friday and gutted around 40 shops.The blaze, which spread from the ground floor to the upper storeys of Puri Plaza in Chain Wali Gali, took nearly 12 hours to be brought under control, with firefighting operations continuing till 1 pm. No casualties or injuries were reported.The building, which has 40 to 45 shops, did not have fire-safety clearance, according to a senior police officer.Karol Bagh police station was alerted to the fire at 1.28 am. The SHO and other cops rushed to the spot and found the building engulfed in flames. The fire department received a call at 1.30 am, following which four fire tenders were immediately dispatched. As the blaze intensified, the deployment was increased to 25 tenders. Three CAT ambulances and two PCR vehicles were also stationed at the spot.The exact cause of the fire, which remained confined to the building, is yet to be established. DCP (Central) Rohit Rajbir Singh said overheating or overcharging of phone batteries stored inside the shop could have triggered it. Traders said the shop had stocked up ahead of the festive season.“Reports will be sought from fire department and the electrical inspector. A Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) team will check the building for other combustible materials,” the DCP said, adding that action will be taken after the three reports are received. MCD will be asked to conduct a structural safety assessment to determine whether the plaza is safe for occupation, he said.According to a corporation official, the building, whose plan had been sanctioned in 2005, is protected from any punitive action in terms of provisions of NCT of Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Act. No complaints regarding any violation regarding commercial activities, storage of batteries, electrical wiring and fire hazard in the building were received in the recent past, the official added.The firefighting was particularly challenging because the plaza had only one entry and exit point, an official said. Water used during the operation accumulated in the basement, further complicating the situation. The presence of electronic equipment and batteries heightened the risk.Zafar, whose shop is in the plaza’s basement, said he learnt about the fire from the building’s security guard. “After he called me, I rushed there and alerted other shop owners,” he said.Several of the gutted shops underwent repair and renovation just ahead of the festivities. Sahil Jain, whose shop specialises in soldering work, claimed the flames reached an electrical transformer and adjacent wiring before spreading to AC compressors, which began bursting, possibly causing the blaze to spread to the floors above.Shammi Chopra, whose shop selling mobile components was gutted, said traders will suffer huge losses. “It would take at least three days for electricity in the plaza to be restored. Then, it will take another 10 to 15 days for renovation. Basically, the festive season is over for us.”For traders, the fire has renewed concerns about the broader safety of one of the capital’s biggest mobile phone markets. Karol Bagh Trader Federation treasurer Satwant Singh alleged that the shopowners had repeatedly complained to civic authorities and the electricity department about loose, tangled electrical wires and telephone cables in Gaffar Market, but in vain.
