Highly inflammable materials stored in building’s basement: Sood on Palam fire

New Delhi: “Highly inflammable” materials were stored in the basement of a four-storey residential building in southwest Delhi’s Palam that caught fire on March 18, Delhi home minister Ashish Sood said on Monday, citing a preliminary report of the Delhi fire department.Nine members of a family, including three children, were killed in the blaze.“The report states that there was only a single staircase from the ground floor to the terrace, and it was not accessible from outside of the building,” Sood said in Delhi assembly. Highly inflammable materials like garments, cosmetics, thinner, perfumes, and nail polish were kept in the basement, he added.“Despite all this, our govt did not engage in the politics of blame game,” the minister said, alluding to AAP’s persistent allegations that “lapses” in Delhi govt’s fire-fighting response compounded the tragedy.“I express grief, and along with the entire govt stand with the family in this difficult time,” Sood said, adding, “Within two hours (of the blaze), the CM ordered a magisterial inquiry was and announced an ex gratia payment.”Noting that the report does not talk about any “delay” in fire brigades arriving at the scene or the “lack” of basic fire-fighting equipment, a senior AAP functionary said, “The BJP govt is running away from its responsibility and instead wants to blame the victims. The report labels normal hosiery and cosmetic material as inflammable, as if the person was storing RDX or had a petrol tank in his house.”Speaking in the assembly, Sood listed out earlier incidents of blazes when AAP was in office in Delhi, including one at the Bawana Industrial Area in Jan 2018 in which 17 people lost their lives, at a Karol Bagh hotel in Feb 2019 that also killed 17 people and at Anaj Mandi of Sadar Bazar in Dec 2019 that claimed 45 lives.“During such a serious discussion in the assembly, the opposition is outside, which shows its attitude. Several recommendations to modernise the fire department in 2019 were not translated into action and no steps were taken till Feb 2025,” Sood said, highlighting what he called the previous AAP govt’s lack of initiatives in this area and an “attitude of passing the buck”.The minister listed several efforts, including revamping the wireless systems, deployment of 50 quick response vehicles and setting up a new command and control centre for effective monitoring of fire-fighting efforts, of the BJP govt after it came to office last year.Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said, “Sood shocked the people of the city today by revealing that despite so many tragic incidents of blazes over the past 11 years, the then Arvind Kejriwal govt never held any discussion in the assembly on implementing fire-safety regulations in residential areas and unauthorised colonies or on improving the fire brigade infrastructure.”