The Delhi government will take strict action against those found responsible for alleged lapses in firefighting operations in southwest Delhi’s Palam, where a devastating blaze claimed nine lives. Nine people died in a devastating fire in Delhi's Palam. Locals allege firefighting delays were caused by a malfunctioning hydraulic ladder. The Delhi government has ordered an inquiry into these lapses and vowed strict action against anyone found responsible for the operational failures.
An inquiry has been ordered to identify lapses in connection with the alleged malfunctioning of hydraulic machine of firefighters that many claimed delayed the rescue operation. Locals claimed that the ladder of the hydraulic crane, which first reached the spot, malfunctioned while the second crane took nearly an hour to arrive, causing delays in the rescue of the victims. They claimed that had the first hydraulic crane worked properly, it could have saved lives.
“The government will not spare anyone responsible for these lapses and strict action will soon be taken,” the official sources said. On Wednesday morning, nine members of a family, including a 70-year-old woman and three young girls—one just three years old—were killed after a massive fire tore through a four-storey residential building in Delhi’s Palam.
Meanwhile, a day after a blaze claimed nine lives in the national capital’s Palam area, the Delhi government on Thursday ordered a citywide fire safety audit, mandating all establishments—including those located away in residential areas—to strictly adhere to the safety norms.To that end, the government has roped in third-party experts to map and audit every establishment in the city.
“Every worker and every family deserves to feel safe, no matter where they are. We are finishing the era of ‘blind spots’ in our city’s safety. By expanding our reach into residential business hubs and bringing in independent experts, we are building a futuristic, secure Delhi where safety is not compromised. We aren’t waiting for accidents to happen; we are stopping them before they start,” the government said.
This comes after Delhi Lieutenant-Governor Taranjit Singh Sandhu ordered a comprehensive fire safety audit across the city on Wednesday, as he chaired his first meeting of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), which gave in-principle approval to an urban flood mitigation plan with a proposed budget outlay of Rs 21,000 crore. It also decided to set up a state-of-the-art emergency operations centre and an integrated command and control centre for Delhi, according to an official statement.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), the L-G office said, “Discussed today’s unfortunate residential fire incident; directed a comprehensive fire audit across localities and institutions to strengthen prevention.” Chief Minister Rekha Gupta was also part of the high-level meeting where other issues like flooding and availability of LPG in city were discussed.
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