New Delhi, March 23 The initial report from the fire department states that "highly flammable" materials were stored in the basement of the building in Palam, where a recent fire incident occurred, Delhi Home Minister Ashish Sood said on Monday.
Sood accused the AAP of playing a "blame game" and "vulture politics" in the matter, while blaming the previous government for not taking initiatives to modernize the fire service.
Hitting back at Sood, Saurabh Bharadwaj, AAP Delhi unit president, said, "It is shameful that the government report is labeling normal hosiery and cosmetic materials as flammable, as if the person was storing RDX material or had a petrol tank in his house. This is shameful."
Earlier today, Sood in the Delhi Assembly had said, "The initial fire report in the Palam incident states that only a single staircase, from ground to terrace floor, was present, which was not accessible from outside the building."
Materials involved, such as garments, cosmetics, thinner, perfumes, and nail polish, which were highly flammable, were kept in the building's basement, he said.
"Despite all this, our government did not engage in 'blame politics'. I express grief, and I stand with the family in this difficult time, along with the entire government. Within two hours, a magisterial inquiry was announced by the CM, and an ex gratia amount was announced," Sood added.
Sood, in his statement, also listed out several previous fire incidents, including the Bawana Industrial area fire in January 2018, the Arpit Hotel fire in February 2019 and the Anaj Mandi fire in 2019, saying that the previous government just had a "passing the buck" attitude.
"During such a serious discussion, the opposition is outside, which shows their attitude. Several recommendations to modernize the fire department in 2019 were not fulfilled; however, no steps were taken till February 2025," Sood further said.
The minister said that since the BJP government came to power, several initiatives, including the revamp of wireless systems, deployment of 50 quick response vehicles and setting up a new Command and Control Centre for effective monitoring of fire-fighting efforts, are to be established soon.
Nine members of a family, including a 70-year-old woman and three of her granddaughters, were killed after a massive fire tore through a multi-storey residential building in southwest Delhi's Palam area last week. Since the incident, AAP has accused the BJP government of lapses in the firefighting system.
In a statement, Bharadwaj said that "The report does not talk about the delay in the fire brigade or the lack of basic essential equipment, like the hydraulic staircase not working. Basic nets were not available".