3 min readNew DelhiNov 1, 2024 02:30 PM IST
First published on: Nov 1, 2024 at 02:29 PM IST
The Delhi Fire Services (DFS) department on Diwali night received a record number of 318 distress or emergency calls of fire accidents out of which 280 were alerts, officers said on Friday.
Seven people were injured in various fire incidents: four in a house fire in Gulshan Chowk, Anand Parbat; one in Vikaspuri; and two in a bus fire near Chhawla, the Delhi Fire Service (DFS) confirmed.
Three floors of a residential building in Kalkaji caught fire and eight fire tenders were deployed to douse the blaze. An official said no casualties have been reported but all domestic articles were destroyed in the fire.
“From 5 pm yesterday (October 31) to 5 am today (November 1), total number of fire related calls exceeded 310,” said DFS Chief Atul Garg.
According to data, the most number of calls were received on October 31 between 6 pm and 11.49 pm, totalling to 176, while 144 additional alerts were received on November 1 from midnight till 6 am, taking the figure to 320 calls during the peak hours, a 64.10% increase from last year’s data of 195 peak calls.
The department received 208 fire-related calls in 2023, 201 in 2022, 152 in 2021, 205 in 2020, 245 in 2019, 271 in 2018, 204 in 2017, 243 in 2016, 290 in 2015, 211 in 2014, 177 in 2013 and 184 in 2012, according to the official data.
Despite a strict ban imposed by the Delhi government on the production, storage, and sale of firecrackers, the Diwali night sky was lit with colours while high-decibel firecrackers were also heard rumbling throughout the evening.
Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Tuesday while chairing a high-level meeting to review the implementation of the firecracker ban said, “Approximately 19,005 kg of firecrackers have been seized and 79 cases related to the sale and storage of firecrackers have been registered against the violators”.
The AAP leader further told that to ensure effective implementation, 377 teams, comprising 300 from Delhi Police and 77 from the Revenue Department, have been deployed across the city, which are “continuously monitoring the situation in all of Delhi”.
A day after Diwali, Delhi’s Air Quality Index (AQI) at 7 am was recorded as 361 – in the ‘very poor’ category with R K Puram leading the charts with an AQI of 398 (very poor), followed by Sonia Vihar, Anand Vihar and Burari Crossing at 395 AQI (very poor). 36 air quality stations recorded AQI above 300 (very poor), reports suggest.
Three floors of a residential building in Kalkaji caught fire and eight fire tenders were deployed to douse the blaze. An official said no casualties have been reported but all domestic articles were destroyed in the fire. 
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