A massive fire broke out at Lajpat Rai Market in Delhi's Chandni Chowk on Thursday, 6 January. As many as 105 shops were burnt to the ground. Shopkeepers, who were already reeling from the economic impact of the two lockdowns, are now faced with further losses.
Visuals from the spot show a series of shops ravaged by the fire, and people trying to control the flames. No casualties have, however, been reported in the fire so far.
'We Are Left With Nothing Now'
“Hamare paas ab kuch bhi nahin bacha hai (We are left with nothing now),” shopkeeper Fardeen Khan told The Quint.
“All our items have burned down. We were already troubled by the lockdown…and now we have nothing left. Our plea to the government is to help us. We have suffered losses worth crores of rupees.”
Khan’s own father is ill and hospitalised at the moment, he further said.
Recalling the losses that were already incurred due to the pandemic, another shopkeeper, Mohammad Gulam Ali, who has been working in the market for the past 25 years, told The Quint:
"Our existing problems have increased, shopkeepers are already under debt…some owe 2 lakhs, some owe 2.5 lakhs…how will they pay back now?"
Stating that the COVID curfews had impacted their sales and exacerbated their losses, Md. Jamil, another shopkeeper, sought help from the government. “We were already under debt,” he reiterated. “Now, we have nothing left.”
More Details
A call about the fire was received at 4:43 am, and the fire was stopped at 8:39 am, Delhi Fire Chief Atul Garg said.
Thirteen fire tenders – 80 firefighters – were rushed to the site to douse the flames.
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