26 shops gutted as fire breaks out at Delhi’s Dilli Haat; no casualties reported

The fire caused extensive damage, with goods worth lakhs being burned. Initial reports suggest that the fire was caused due to a short circuit.

 New Delhi: A massive fire broke out at Dilli Haat, a popular market in south Delhi, on Wednesday night. As many as 13 fire tenders were rushed to the spot. As per officials, 25 to 30 shops were gutted in the fire. However, no loss of life or injuries was reported. The fire caused extensive damage, with goods worth lakhs being burned. Initial reports suggest that the fire was caused due to a short circuit.

“We received a call regarding fire at Dilli Haat Market INA at 8.55 p.m. and have deployed 13 fire engines at the spot. Further operation is underway,” an official of the Delhi Fire Service told IANS. Fire Officer Sanjay Tomar told IANS, “A total of 14 fire tenders and more than 50 personnel were deployed at the site. We successfully prevented the fire from spreading further, despite strong winds.”

“On April 30, at around 8:45 p.m., a PCR call regarding a fire at the Delhi Haat was received at Sarojini Nagar Police Station. Upon receiving the call, the Station House Officer along with police staff immediately rushed to the spot and found that a fire had broken out at nearly 24 tender shops located in the Stage Area of Delhi Haat. The area was promptly evacuated as a precautionary measure. Four fire tenders arrived at the site and have brought the fire largely under control. As per the initial assessment, 24 shops have been gutted in the fire. Fortunately, no loss of life or injuries have been reported so far. Police and fire teams are present at the site, and further investigation is underway to ascertain the cause of the fire,” Delhi Police said.

Dilli Haat is a popular art and craft mart and also has a food plaza. This was the second fire incident in the day. Earlier on Wednesday, a fire broke out in a building in Gandhi Nagar Market. Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said she is closely monitoring the situation and ensuring all necessary assistance to those affected. “The news of the fire incident at Dilli Haat is unfortunate. The team of firefighters have brought the fire under control. No casualties have been reported so far. We are closely monitoring the situation & ensuring all necessary assistance to those affected,” she wrote on X.

Delhi Minister Kapil Mishra said that the cause of fire will be investigated and compensation will be paid for those who lost their shops. “As soon as we received the information about the fire, I came here. This is a very unfortunate incident; around 26 shops have been completely gutted. The artisans and vendors who run these shops have suffered serious losses. I have instructed my officials to assess the total damage. We will not let any artisan suffer losses, the government is fully standing with them,” Mishra said.