Sood orders city-wide fire audit, says there will be no more safety gaps

In a decisive move to prioritise citizens’ lives, Delhi Home Minister Ashish Sood has ordered a city-wide fire safety audit that will have in its scope the establishments in the residential areas as well.

The move came in the wake of the tragic fire incident in a cloth and cosmetics shop located in the basement, ground and first floors of the building in Palam on Wednesday that claimed nine lives while affecting the ffamilies residing on the second and third floors.
The minister said moving beyond standard protocols, it has been mandated that every single establishment, including those located away in residential areas must strictly be in pursuit of standard safety rules, the audit and mapping will be conducted by third party experts.

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This approach will ensure speed and precision, as per the minister. He added that “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,” Sood emphasized.
He further said that through expanding the reach to residential business hubs and bringing in independent experts the excise is aimed at building a futuristic secure Delhi where safety is not compromised at any point. “We aren’t waiting for accidents to happen, we are going to stop them before they start,” he stated.

On Wednesday, Sood had met with the families of the victims who tragically lost their lives in the fire at Palam’s Ram Chowk.
He had also visited the cremation ground to pay his last respects and assured support to the affected families.

The government has ordered a Magisterial Inquiry to investigate the cause of the fire and determine how commercial goods, such as cosmetics and clothes, were being stored in a residential building.
The inquiry will examine potential safety violations and the legality of using the premises for commercial storage, which contributed to the rapid spread of the blaze.
The Home Minister emphasized that the government is taking full responsibility for a transparent investigation.

“Meeting the families at the cremation ground and hearing their stories is truly heartbreaking. This loss of life is a grave matter,” Sood had said.