NEW DELHI: Delhi Home Minister Ashish Sood has mandated a third-party mapping and fire safety audit of all establishments in the capital, including those in residential areas, in response to the recent fire in Palam that resulted in nine fatalities.
Sood instructed that third-party experts be engaged to evaluate fire safety compliance throughout the city.
“This initiative aims to pinpoint deficiencies in safety measures and ensure compliance with established norms across commercial facilities in mixed-use environments,” he stated.
“Every worker and every family deserves to feel safe, no matter where they are,” Sood emphasized, adding that the government plans to bridge safety gaps and enhance preventive strategies.
A fire erupted in a four-storey building on a crowded street near the Palam metro station on Wednesday. The building housed a cloth and cosmetics shop on the basement, ground, and first floors, with a family residing on the upper levels.
The fire rapidly consumed the structure, claiming the lives of nine family members, including a 70-year-old woman and three young girls, one only three years old. Three other individuals sustained injuries while trying to escape.
Previously, Delhi Lt Governor Taranjit Singh Sandhu, who chaired his initial meeting of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) on Wednesday, instructed for a thorough fire safety audit to be conducted across the capital.
