3 workers dead, 6 injured as fire breaks out in agro manufacturing plant in Delhi’s Narela

The Delhi Police received a call about the blaze at its control room around 3.30 am. The Delhi Fire Services said 16 fire tenders were rushed to the spot. It took the firemen almost 12 hours to fully douse the fire and pull out nine men, said officials.

Police said three workers — Shyam (24), Ram Singh (30), and Beerpal (42) — were declared dead on arrival at Satyawadi Raja Harish Chandra Hospital. Six others were referred to Safdarjung Hospital for treatment.

DCP (Outer-North) Ravi Kumar Singh said the factory owners, Ankit Gupta and Vinay Gupta, were arrested. They were bailed out later. A case under IPC sections 285 (negligent conduct involving fire or combustible matter), 287 (negligent conduct with machinery), 337 (causes injury to another person by acting in a rash or negligent way that endangers human life or the safety of others), and 304A (causing death by negligence) has been registered against them.

Mohit Singh (38), a friend of the factory owners who had come to see the damage later in the day, said: “The workers began fleeing as the fire soon consumed a transformer beside the building, causing an explosion of sparks.”

Lal Bahadur, a worker, was among those who escaped. “By the time I was out, the whole building was burning. All my money, clothes and belongings got burnt as I lived with the workers on the top floor,” said the 35-year-old who had come to work at the factory from UP’s Auraiya. He seemed to regret his decision to leave home when he said, “I’ve been working here for six months. They paid me Rs 14,500. But I can’t risk my life for just this much money. No one can say what can happen in such factories.”

Bahadur and another worker Vinod explained that the building had a basement, a ground floor, and three floors above it.

While the basement was used to store pulses, the ground floor was where they were packed. The first floor contained three machines — one used to heat the pulses to loosen their peels; another to oil them for easy peeling and to give them a shine; and the third to peel the husks. They said the second floor contained the air compressor used to clean the pulses properly and a large storage space for the bulk.

The top floor was where the workers lived, along with a machine that sorted the lentils by quality and another that winnowed the husks. The whole building was connected by one narrow staircase. It had one gate to enter and exit the building.

According to the DCP, while the factory had an MCD licence, it did not have a fire NOC.

The MCD, in its response to the incident, said the factory had a factory licence which was renewed in 2022 and was valid till March 31, 2025.

Pinto Kumar, a security supervisor for a factory nearby, pointed out the serious lack of safety in the industrial plants in Narela. “… Things like compressors should be placed at a distance from workers… Transformers are at the entrance of every factory. The danger it poses is huge. You go to any factory, there is no assembling point for any worker in case there is an accident or emergency. If there is an assembling space, it is being used as a godown,” he said.