Dwarka's Sector 5 market: A tinderbox waiting to go off
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Dwarka's Sector 5 market: A tinderbox waiting to go off

The poorly maintained electrical infrastructure of the Mixed Land Use (MLU) market of this sector, with open meter boxes and naked wires, can lead to a fire any day.

Dwarka's Sector 5 market: A tinderbox waiting to go off Open meter boxes and naked wires under the stairs of plot 13

One look at the Mixed Land Use (MLU) market of Sector 5 in Dwarka, and you know that an accident is just waiting to happen. Poor maintenance of electrical infrastructure is evident from the open fuse boxes, open meter boxes and naked wires almost everywhere.

The market has about 15 plots, with 100 shops and several offices. City Spidey visited Plot No 13 to get a first-hand account of the situation. The area under the stairs is a nightmare to look at -- electric panels, boxes and wires lining the walls are all open. If you are not cautious, there's every possibility of coming in contact with the wires, which could prove fatal. In fact, people here say that incidents of minor fires, sparks and fuses blowing up are not too uncommon.

A shop owner and a resident of Lovely Home Apartments, Sector 5, Vishal Gupta, said, “In 2012, there was an incident of fire on Plot 13 due to poor maintenance of electrical infrastructure. The authorities did take note of the situation at the time and the meters and wires were changed. But it's back to the same -- indeed it's worse."

Rakesh Dagar, who has an office on the plot, said, “You can see how bad the condition is. There's a coaching institute upstairs, so a good number of children use the stairs throughout the day. You also have a boutique and a dry cleaners store. So you can imagine the amount of risk the wires pose. The situation has turned really dangerous -- there can be a fire any time. Civic authorities must take up the matter on a war footing and do something immediately."

When City Spidey contacted chief electrical engineer of DDA, Sandeep Mehta, for a response, he said, “I will certainly speak to the concerned officials. They will look into the matter and do whatever is required as soon as possible.”