The fire at a shoe factory in northwest Delhi’s Mangolpuri Industrial Area, which claimed four lives and left two others injured on Friday night, has once again brought the Capital’s fire safety preparedness under scrutiny.
A magisterial inquiry later indicted multiple agencies, including the Delhi Police, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, the tourism department, and BSES Rajdhani Power Ltd, for lapses in licensing, inspections, and monitoring. The report found that the illegally expanded establishment continued to operate despite repeated warnings. Restricted escape routes, a locked terrace, inadequate ventilation and congested approach lanes aggravated the tragedy. The first fire tender’s water supply also ran dry within minutes. The inquiry found that illegal overhead cables obstructed a Delhi Fire Services aerial platform and that there was no effective backup arrangement when the equipment failed. The building had very few windows and a narrow entrance, while the factory did not have a fire department no-objection certificate. The congested neighbourhood and narrow lanes also made firefighting and rescue operations difficult. An inquiry by the Delhi Fire Services pointed to a delay in alerting firefighters, the use of inflammable material in the building, complicated window-locking systems, and non-functional or ineffective firefighting equipment. The emergency exit was also reportedly blocked with stored goods. Despite repeated tragedies across different parts of the city, the recurring concerns remain similar: unauthorised construction, commercial activities in residential buildings, inadequate emergency exits, absence of fire clearances and poor enforcement of safety regulations. The latest Mangolpuri incident has once again brought the spotlight on the need for stricter inspections and accountability to prevent another preventable tragedy.
Delhi Police subsequently filed a 1,500-page chargesheet against the owner and staff members. The March 18 Palam fire, which killed nine people, exposed shortcomings in emergency response.
From workers trapped inside unauthorised factories to hotel guests unable to find emergency exits and newborns caught in a hospital blaze, several of the national capital’s worst fire tragedies have raised questions about whether authorities have learnt from past disasters.
