Pashmina shawls, Afghan carpets: Fire guts 40+ stalls at Dastkar’s Nature Bazaar, artisans lose goods worth crores

According to a Delhi Fire Services (DFS) statement, a distress call came in on their helpline at 7.37 am, stating that a fire had broken out at Nature Bazaar.

Five to seven fire tenders rushed to the spot, as locals and exhibition staff tried to douse the flames. “After more than 90 minutes of fire fighting, the fire was finally doused at 9.10 am. Around 40-50 stalls were gutted, though no injuries were reported,” a DFS official said, adding that they are still verifying the cause of the fire.

While the organiser has pegged the losses at more than Rs 5 crore, the Delhi Police said they are yet to arrive at an estimate.

As per its website, Dastkar, a private not-for-profit NGO established in 1981, works with over 1 lakh artisans.

For nearly four decades, the organisation has honed artisans’ indigenous skills and equipped them to market their products with dignity, through fair market prices. With their reach into rural parts of 29 Indian states, they have helped revive craft groups and trained them in product development and production systems.

The crafts exhibition, which was slated to end on March 16, has been on Dastkar’s annual calendar for years. Its seasonal fairs are a huge draw among Delhi’s discerning customers who know where they can find authentic handmade products, from textiles and wood and metal crafts to jewellery and rugs.

Laila Tyabji, founder member and former Chairperson, DASTKAR Society for Crafts & Craftspeople, who was instrumental in building the organisation for over four decades, shared a statement from the organisation on her Instagram page.

“In the early hours of this morning a devastating fire at the Dastkar Nature Bazaar gutted stalls in the ongoing Bonanza Bazaar, totally destroying their goods, infrastructure and equipment. The Dastkar team is working round the clock to mitigate the situation, secure the safety of the remaining stalls and site, as well as make payments to the participant artisans for their sales,” it read.

“The remaining two days of the ongoing Bazaar stand cancelled. Dastkar will do whatever we can to alleviate the losses and distress of the affected crafts groups.”

According to a police officer, the probable cause of the fire, as per the night guards, is a short circuit. “No casualties have been reported. Exhibition goods like carpets and home decor items have been gutted in the fire. The exact value of the loss is being calculated,” the officer said.

Devastating loss

According to the organiser, most of the stalls that burnt down were aligned with Dastkar — 37 permanent ones at Gali-e-Khas Road and five that were part of “Bonanza Bazaar”. The stalls were housed inside tents made of large sheets of clothes held up by iron poles.

Speaking to The Indian Express on condition of anonymity, the organiser said she was informed of the fire at 7.30 am by one of their guards: “It was raining at that time when it happened. It was probably a short circuit. Once the fire started, some of the local residents came in to douse it. It was the time of Azaan at a nearby mosque. People came from there as well.”

She said craftspeople from Kashmir, Rajasthan, and other states had set up stalls, showcasing Pashmina Shawls, handwoven Afghan rugs and Kashmiri clothing.

Artisans have lost at least Rs 5 crore worth of their products, she said. A basic pure Pashmina shawl typically costs Rs 8,000-Rs 10,000, while handwoven ones with intricate embroidery can cost anywhere between Rs 50,000 and Rs 4 lakh. Afghan rugs, depending on size, are priced around Rs 10,000 to over Rs 1 lakh.

“Their whole stock is gone,” said the organiser. “The number (losses) could go up to Rs 10 to Rs 20 crore even. We have still not accounted for the exact amount of products lost as the shopkeepers are in no position to talk.”
Naveen Kumar, a stall owner who lost his shop in the fire, told mediapersons that he also got a call from one of the guards. “My elder son and I ran to the spot and found that several shops were gutted. Products worth crores were turned to ashes. If not for the locals helping in time, we would have lost even more shops,” he added.

Naveen said as soon as the fire started to spread, an announcement was made from the nearby mosque and people poured in to help. “We cut down the curtains separating the shops, and used fire extinguishers and sand baskets at the site to stop the fire,” he said.

“We appeal to the government to provide us compensation. Artisans have lost almost everything.”