New Delhi: Three months after a deadly fire gutted his shop, Nadeem, a brass seller from Moradabad, was back at his stall at the Dilli Haat market. But he’s not lighting the colourful lamps at his stall just yet.
On 30 April, a swift-moving fire caused by a short circuit caused massive damage to 24 shops located near the Kalam Memorial toward the tail end of the Dilli Haat market. Now, three trees in the middle of the market with their blackened, leafless branches are the only evidence left of the cruelty of the fire. The rest of the area has been renovated, new tiles laid out, and shopkeepers relocated to newly built shops.
Throughout the day, a fire truck stands guard outside the market—a stark reminder to both shoppers and shopkeepers.
Through a tender of Rs 49 lakh, the tourism department has implemented design changes in the market to prevent fires in the future. Meanwhile, shopkeepers themselves have started investing in fire extinguishers as they try to recover from the traumatic event.
An official of the Delhi Tourism department who didn’t want to be named, said that the Dilli Haat market is a ‘crown jewel’ of the Delhi Tourism department and that it’ll do everything to ensure that such an event never happens again.
Shopkeepers in the last three months have run pillar to post to negotiate rehabilitation for themselves.
“I haven’t slept in three months. Whenever I close my eyes, I see the huge flames of fire, and my utter helplessness to stop it, or save my belongings from it. I have lost my entire world,” a shopkeeper from Kashmir told ThePrint.
“I had a much bigger shop earlier; now I have been handed a small stall in a dead zone. Is this justice?”
New safety measures
Three small fire extinguishers, kept under burnt trees at the Dilli Haat market, are all that 24 shops in the vicinity have at hand to fight the next fire.
Dilli Haat market didn’t need a No Objection Certificate to reopen. According to Atul Garg, the director of Delhi Fire Services, open markets do not require such certificates.
“We have suggested to the tourism department to have a water tanker established in the market to control the next fire, even though that is not required by law. Over and above, we recommended getting rid of temporary shops, reducing overcrowding of the market, and reducing loose wiring,” Garg said.
The tourism department has implemented some of the reforms suggested.
“We have started using fire retardant, low-smoke wiring—PVC-insulated flexible wires—which will prevent fire from spreading,” said the Delhi Tourism official.
The tourism department said that all safety measures taken so far are preliminary. It’s a work in progress, and more measures will be undertaken in phases.
Shops have been informed of fire prevention norms, the official said, and all empty electrical joints have been identified and removed. No shop will be given more than four electricity outlet points.
“We have engaged and hired eight fire safety personnel who will be on the spot at all times. One fire tender will stand outside the market at all times, till we are able to develop a water tanker to fight fire in case of a mishap,” the official said.
“We are not leaving things to our tenants, the shopkeepers. The Dilli haat market is our home, and we’re doing everything to ensure it remains a thriving place,” he added.
A contractor on-site, who didn’t wish to be named, said that close to 75 temporary shops have been removed from the Dilli Haat market. And the new shops have been allotted in semi-permanent corridors lined up at the sides of the market in an L-shaped structure, instead of the previous haphazard one. This also gives more free area to shoppers.
New tin sheds have also been provided to the shops. Earlier, they had plastic sheets on a steel frame, which were quick to catch fire. Now, an additional layer of tile profile sheets has been put on the sheds, which don’t burn easily. These tin profile sheets have been laid out across the market, and not just for the renovated shops.
“We have built brick walls on either side, and given one circuit for every two to three shops instead of one circuit for five shops, which was the norm earlier. This will help in regulating the load,” the contractor said.
The structures have also been made permanent and are more difficult to collapse in the case of a fire, he added.
“Shopkeepers have just arranged wires to get new connections, and connect lights from anywhere; we have stopped that now,” the contractor said.
The department has also sourced only Anchor switches, Havells boards, and Philips lights for the repair work. A gate wider than 6 metres has also been installed to allow a fire tender inside in case of an emergency.
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Shopkeepers unhappy with govt help
Dilli Haat, which translates to Delhi Market, was established in 1994 in front of the INA market to give artisans from across the country a chance to sell their products directly to customers. The shops are dynamic and rotate among different people. Vendors from various states have set up food stalls too. It is one of Delhi’s most popular tourist and shopping stops.
The fire had raised important safety questions for open markets across the country.
On a humid and heavy afternoon on 3 July, the third day of reopening, many shopkeepers were requesting customers not to bargain—they aren’t operating on margins that let them offer discounts. Not anymore.
All of them lost a majority of their goods to the fire and suffered losses running into lakhs of rupees. They’ve been offered Rs 5 lakh as compensation, and rent has been pardoned for the next six months.
“We have been asked to keep one extinguisher in each shop, and have ordered one each for all of us,” Nadeem said. “But when the fire happened last time, the extinguishers were useless; we had to shoot up toward the fire, and the foam was falling on us instead.”
Shopkeepers are also debating whether to install a fire safety notice board in the middle of the market. But it is not the next fire that scares them; it is the next six months.
“There are no customers here; I have sold only one item in the past three days. How will I make a recovery?” Mohd Shehzad, who sells clothing accessories sourced from Bhagalpur, said.
Shehzad had won the bid to get a shop at Dilli Haat for the first time and had been here for only one month when the fire led to a disaster. Shopkeepers were hoping to get at least one year of being at Dilli Haat without rent.
Another artisan, Chote Laal from Uttar Pradesh, walks around with a bandaged hand where he had sustained third-degree burns. He’s unhappy with the government’s help so far.
“The shop should have been rent-free for at least one year. Whatever they’ve given is not sufficient, but I guess it’s fine. You cannot expect more,” Laal said.
Kashmiri shopkeepers are the worst affected, claiming losses worth crores of rupees as expensive and dainty pashminas were lost to the fire. As this area of the market comes back to life, they hope for a better future.
“I am drowning in loans, while the artisans I source products from are also upset,” said the Kashmiri shopkeeper. “The fire finished everything. I hope there is a rebirth.”
(Edited by Prasanna Bachchhav)