NEW DELHI —Tragedy in Palam Colony: A devastating early morning blaze ripped through a four-story residential-cum-commercial building in Southwest Delhi’s Palam Colony on Wednesday, claiming the lives of nine family members, including three young children. While the fire itself was catastrophic, the tragedy has been compounded by harrowing allegations of administrative negligence, with locals and relatives claiming a malfunctioning hydraulic ladder delayed critical rescue operations by nearly 90 minutes.
The fire, which broke out in Gali Number-2 at Shri Ram Chowk, has left the tight-knit community of Sadh Nagar in mourning and turned a popular local business into a charred tomb.
A Morning of Horror
Tragedy in Palam Colony: 9 of a Family Killed in Building Fire as Rescue Delays Spark Outrage :The Kashyap family, a prominent local household that had lived in the area for over 70 years, ran a well-known shop selling artificial jewelry, garments, and cosmetics. Their building served as a multi-functional space: a basement and ground-floor retail shop, a first-floor godown, and residential quarters on the upper floors.
Around 6:30 AM, while most of the family was still asleep, smoke began billowing from the ground floor. By 6:45 AM, the Delhi Fire Service (DFS) received its first frantic call. Although the first fire engine arrived by 7:15 AM, the rescue mission was plagued by obstacles from the start. Firefighters were forced to navigate narrow, congested lanes and manually lift dangling overhead power cables to move their heavy tenders into position.
The Victims: A Family Wiped Out
Tragedy in Palam Colony: 9 of a Family Killed in Building Fire as Rescue Delays Spark Outrage : Of the 19-member joint family, 12 were inside the building at the time of the incident. Nine did not make it out alive. The deceased have been identified as:
- Kamal Kashyap (39), his wife Ashu (35), and their three daughters: Niharika (15), Ivani (6), and Jaisika (3).
- Lado Kashyap (70), the family matriarch.
- Pravesh (33), Kamal’s brother.
- Himanshi (22), Kamal’s sister.
- Deepika (28), Kamal’s sister-in-law.
The scenes of recovery were heart-wrenching. Relatives reported that Lado and Himanshi were found completely charred and unrecognizable. “We could only see their toes… we could not even identify them,” said a grief-stricken cousin, Deepak Sharma. The others are believed to have succumbed to asphyxiation (smoke inhalation) rather than direct burns.
“90 Minutes of Begging for Help”
The most damning allegations involve the failure of the fire department’s specialized equipment. As the fire engulfed the lower floors, nine family members retreated to the third-floor balcony, screaming for help as a crowd of helpless neighbors watched from below.
Witnesses claim that a Bronto hydraulic ladder—designed for high-rise rescues—was present but failed to function until 8:30 AM due to a mechanical defect.
“We could see them crying. Some wanted to jump, but the police told them to wait for the ladder. But the ladder didn’t open,” said Yogesh Sharma, a local trader.
In an act of desperation, Anil Kashyap (32) attempted to lower his 1.5-year-old daughter, Mitali, toward firefighters from the balcony. Tragically, the child fell to the ground, suffering severe leg fractures. Moments later, Anil himself fell onto the fire truck, sustaining critical head injuries. Both remain in serious condition, alongside Sachin Kashyap (28), who escaped by jumping to an adjacent roof but suffered 25% burns.
The Fire Department’s Defense
The Delhi Fire Service has faced intense scrutiny over the reported equipment failure. A. Nedunchezhiyan, Principal Director of the DFS, acknowledged a “minor mechanical defect” but maintained that the Bronto truck worked after a short delay.
However, sources within the department, speaking on condition of anonymity, revealed a more systemic issue. The initial ladder deployed could only reach 30 feet (the second floor). The larger 42-meter Bronto truck took significant time to arrive and stabilize in the narrow lane. When that unit allegedly failed, another had to be summoned from Connaught Place, nearly 22 kilometers away, causing a fatal gap in the rescue window.
High-Level Inquiries and Compensation
The scale of the tragedy has prompted immediate intervention from the highest levels of government. Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences on X (formerly Twitter), announcing an ex-gratia of ₹2 lakh for the families of the deceased and ₹50,000 for the injured from the PM National Relief Fund.
In Delhi, the administrative machinery has swung into action:
- Lieutenant Governor Taranjit Singh Sandhu has ordered an immediate fire audit of all high-risk residential and institutional localities across the capital.
- Chief Minister Rekha Gupta has ordered a magisterial inquiry and announced state compensation: ₹10 lakh for deceased adults, ₹5 lakh for minors, and ₹2 lakh for the injured.
- Former CM Arvind Kejriwal highlighted the recurring nature of these tragedies, citing “narrow lanes and inadequate safety measures” as a grave concern for the city.
A Community in Mourning
The patriarch of the family, Rajendra Kashyap—an AAP leader and president of the local market association—was away in Goa for a political meeting when the fire occurred. Other family members were also traveling in Solan and Rajasthan, spared by chance from a fire that decimated the heart of their home.
The Delhi Police have registered a case under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), specifically Sections 287 (negligent conduct with fire), 125A (endangering life), and 106 (causing death by negligence) against unknown persons.
As the smoke clears in Palam, the focus shifts to the inquiry. The residents of Sadh Nagar are left asking a haunting question: If the equipment had worked, would those three children still be alive today?