New Delhi: A massive fire broke out in a four-storey commercial building in Delhi's Gaffar Market in the early hours of Friday, just days before Diwali, triggering a large emergency response in one of the capital's busiest wholesale markets. Twenty-two fire tenders were rushed to the spot, and firefighters battled the blaze for hours before bringing it under control. No casualties or injuries were reported, officials said, though the fire caused extensive damage to property.
The fire was reported at Puri Plaza, a commercial building in 13 Block's Chain Wali Gali area of Gaffar Market in Karol Bagh, at around 1.28 am on Friday, November 6. A PCR call about the blaze was received at the Karol Bagh police station, after which police personnel, including the station house officer and night staff, reached the spot immediately. They found the fire raging at shop number 13/21 in the building, which houses businesses dealing in mobile accessories.
According to Delhi Police, preliminary information suggests that the fire originated in a ground-floor shop where mobile batteries were stored, before spreading rapidly to all four floors of the building. The Delhi Fire Service said around 20 to 25 fire tenders were pressed into service, along with water bowsers, lighting equipment and other emergency vehicles.
Three ambulances of the Centralised Accident and Trauma Services and two police control room vehicles were also rushed to the scene to assist in the emergency response.
The timing of the fire added to the alarm. It broke out on Dhanteras, the first day of the Diwali festivities, when markets across Delhi are packed with shoppers and traders stock up heavily for the festival rush. Gaffar Market in Karol Bagh is one of the capital's largest wholesale hubs for mobile phones, accessories and electronic goods, and its narrow lanes are lined with shops that store large quantities of stock in the run-up to Diwali.
The blaze, therefore, raised immediate fears of a much larger disaster in a congested commercial area.
Police suspect that overheating or overcharging of mobile batteries may have triggered the fire, though the exact cause is yet to be established. A report will be obtained from the Delhi Fire Service and the Electrical Inspector to determine how the blaze began, officials said. The fire has been extinguished and the situation at the spot is under control, with police personnel deployed to maintain law and order in the area.
The Gaffar Market fire was the third major fire reported in the national capital in less than 24 hours, underlining the strain on the city's emergency services during the festive season. On Thursday morning, a fire was reported at the Narela Industrial Area at around 9.05 am. A day earlier, a three-storey under-construction building collapsed in Delhi's Chawri Bazar area during the Diwali rush, killing two labourers and injuring at least four people.
The back-to-back incidents have renewed questions about safety in the capital's crowded markets and construction sites at a time when commercial activity peaks ahead of the festival.
Gaffar Market's vulnerability is well known to those who work there. The market, spread across the lanes of Karol Bagh, is a maze of wholesale shops selling mobile phones, chargers, batteries, covers and other accessories, much of it stored in bulk in small, tightly packed units. During the festive season, stocks swell further as traders prepare for a surge in demand.
Electrical wiring in many of these older commercial buildings is often stretched to its limits by heavy loads, and the storage of lithium batteries and electronic goods adds to the fire risk. Fire officials have repeatedly warned that congested markets with narrow approach roads make firefighting operations harder, since tenders cannot always reach the seat of the fire quickly.
Friday's incident followed the pattern that fire officials fear most during Diwali week. The blaze began in the early hours, when the market was closed and few people were around to raise the alarm quickly. By the time the fire was noticed and reported, it had already taken hold on the ground floor and begun climbing to the upper storeys.
The building's stock of mobile accessories and batteries would have provided ample fuel, allowing the flames to spread from floor to floor before firefighters could contain them. The fact that no one was injured is a relief, but traders in the building face heavy losses from the destruction of their stock.
The Delhi Fire Service had already stepped up its preparedness for the festive season, with additional tenders and personnel on standby across the city. Diwali week is traditionally one of the busiest periods for the fire department, as the use of firecrackers, decorative lighting and overloaded electrical circuits raises the risk of blazes in homes, markets and warehouses.
The department had also issued advisories urging market associations and shop owners to check wiring, avoid overloading circuits, and keep fire extinguishers handy. The Karol Bagh fire, however, shows how quickly a blaze can overwhelm even a prepared response when it starts in a stock-heavy shop in the middle of the night.
For the traders of Gaffar Market, the fire is a reminder of the fragile line between a profitable festive season and a ruinous one. Many of the shops in Puri Plaza are small businesses run by families who have traded in the market for years. Their entire Diwali stock, built up over weeks in anticipation of the year's biggest shopping days, can be wiped out in a single night.
While insurance may cover some of the losses for larger traders, many small shopkeepers operate with limited cover, and a fire at this point in the season leaves them with little time to restock before the festival.
The incident is also likely to sharpen the focus on fire safety compliance in Delhi's wholesale markets. After major market fires in the past, authorities have ordered safety audits, checks on electrical load, and drives to clear encroachments that block fire tenders. Market associations, for their part, have often pointed to the difficulty of retrofitting fire safety systems into old buildings with narrow lanes and shared walls.
The question now is whether the Karol Bagh fire will lead to a fresh round of inspections before Diwali, when the risk is at its highest, or whether it will be treated as one more festive-season accident.
As Delhi heads into the main Diwali days, the city's emergency services will remain on high alert. The capital's air quality has already turned hazardous ahead of the festival, with the average air quality index touching 377 on Thursday, its worst reading in 288 days, adding to the strain on residents and the administration alike. The fire at Gaffar Market, coming on Dhanteras itself, is an early warning of how quickly the festive season can turn dangerous.
For now, the market counts itself fortunate that the blaze, for all its scale, claimed no lives. The investigation into its cause, and the assessment of the damage, will continue in the coming days.
(Reporting based on NDTV and The Economic Times.)