Delhi fire safety check: When biz triumphs over rulebook to start a fire

Third part of the series on fire safety takes readers to Delhi and the problems of packed shops, faulty wiring and the trend of doing business without NOCs

It’s been some days since a fire gutted around 150 shops at the Marwari Katra market of Chandni Chowk, a busy shopping area next to a primary school in the heart of Old Delhi. Initially, some 14 fire tenders were sent to Marwari Katra —sprinkled with textile warehouses and plenty of bridal wear shops — and then some more had to be called as the fire raged. It took the fire fighters hours to douse the flames. Cinders remain.

Mahesh Kapoor calls himself lucky as his textile shop is right on the main road where the tenders stopped. “The ones who