Massive Fire Erupts at Delhi’s Azadpur Mandi, Ongoing Rescue Operations

A massive fire broke out on Friday at the Azadpur Mandi, which is one of Delhi’s largest wholesale fruit and vegetable markets. A huge fire was reported at Azadpur Mandi in Delhi, on Friday evening. As per initial reports, it started from a tomato shed. A call came regarding the fire, at 5.20 pm, and 11 fire tenders were rushed to the spot. It took almost an hour to bring the fire under control, and it was all okay by 6:30 p.m., as per the report. The video of this fire in Delhi has come to internet. It has been seen that one after another shops in the Azadpur Sabji Mandi have been burnt. According to the police, there was a pile of garbage behind the tomato shop. There was the first fire, and after that, it spread.

According to the local vendors and members of the agricultural produce marketing committee (APMC), Azadpur, the loss is almost ₹5-6 crores and this may affect the price range of fruits and vegetables of Northern India as Azadpur Mandi is one of the greatest fruits and vegetables markets of Asia. The price of  Fruits and vegetables in Northern India depends on this market.

Although the exact reason of the broke out of this fire could not be identified till late evening the police said that they suspect that the incident started either due to a short-circuit in the electrical wiring or any electrical item, or due to a fire in the garbage dumped in the backside of the tomato market.

“We are looking into the exact cause of the fire,” said deputy commissioner of police (northwest) Jitendra Kumar Meena.

Azadpur APMC member Anil Malhotra said “Some of the vendors even lost their logbooks. The fire probably started from a dumpster behind the shed that caught fire and spread into the area where vendors store their vegetables.”