A bicycle manufacturing unit on Gill Road was gutted due to garbage burning at a nearby vacant plot around noon on Sunday. The fire brigade had a tough time controlling the flames, as the unit was in a narrow lane, where tenders could not enter. They were stationed at the main road and water was supplied through pipes to the unit.
It took almost an hour to douse the flames. Fire brigade officials said the incident took place at Daman Enterprises. Someone had allegedly put the garbage on fire and there was a hole in the bicycle unit from where flames spread inside.
The factory owners used to bring bicycle parts and assemble them in the unit, so chemicals and paints were also lying in the building. In no time, flames engulfed the shed of the building. The owner and family members were inconsolable. They were collecting documents from the factory that had almost gutted along with the furniture, a computer and a laptop and cycle parts.
There were no fire safety arrangements inside the unit and NOC from the department was not taken, said assistant fire officer Rajinder Sharma. “We doused the flames in an hour with the help of eight fire tenders. We stayed for two more hours to ensure that no spark should rekindle,” he added.
Owner Damanjit Singh Chabbra said he had received a phone call from their neighbours about the fire and they rushed to the site. He said they lived in Model Town and from there, they could see the smoke. He held people who had put the garbage on fire responsible for it and claimed that he had faced huge losses.
SHO Shimlapuri police station Mohammad Jamil said police were verifying about the persons who put the garbage on fire and after recording the statement of factory owner, an FIR would be registered.
Three fires in industries. It is the third major fire incident in a row in an industry. At all three places, fire safety arrangements were missing. However, neither the district administration nor the municipal corporation took the matter seriously and fire brigade officials every time showed helplessness by saying that they do not have any power to check the industry and that they could only serve notices.
April 26: There was a fire at a yarn mill in Industrial Area A Extension, which left three dead and one injured
April 29: A major fire engulfed a hosiery unit in Daulat Colony, GT Road
April 30: A fire in a bicycle manufacturing unit on Gill Road
Courtesy: TOI
