Delhi fire department gets 201 calls on Diwali

(Image credit: AFP)

The Delhi fire department received 201 calls related to fire incidents on the occasion of Diwali, which was 32 per cent higher than the last year, officials said on Tuesday.

The department received 152 fire-related calls in 2021, 205 in 2020, 245 in 2019, 271 in 2018, 204 in 2017, 243 in 2016 and 290 in 2015, according to official data.

In one of the incidents on Monday, a fire broke out in a garment factory in east Delhi's Gandhi Nagar area in the evening. Four people were rescued from the third floor of the factory, while a fireman suffered minor injuries in the operation. A fire also broke out in a restaurant in northwest Delhi's Prashant Vihar area.

The officials said information about the fire was received at 8:50 pm, following which fire tenders were rushed to the spot. Earlier, the fire department had said it would deploy fire tenders at 22 spots on Sunday and on Diwali from 5 pm till midnight as a precautionary measure.

An internal committee headed by the chief fire officer was directed to identify 50 spots in the national capital where mobile fire tenders can be deployed. These spots were selected on the basis of an analysis of yearly fire-related calls received on Diwali.

A large number of high-decibel firecrackers thundered throughout Diwali night on Monday as people in Delhi flouted the ban imposed on these by the city government. Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai last week said bursting firecrackers in the national capital on Diwali will attract a jail term of up to six months and a fine of Rs 200.

Despite the legal deterrent in place, people in many parts of the city started bursting crackers by dusk. As the night progressed, the intensity of firecrackers increased, breaching permissible decibel limits.

The air quality in Delhi on Tuesday morning was recorded in the 'very poor' category but the situation was relatively better than previous years due to favourable meteorological conditions which diluted the effect of firecrackers and stubble burning.