NEW DELHI: Dangling wires, dingy lanes and rows of hotels within a market turns Paharganj into a tinderbox. A Karol Bagh-like incident here could become a bigger disaster.Some of the hotels here have rooftop restaurants while others have aesthetically-designed wooden or carpeted walls. Except for hand-held fire extinguishers, most of the hotels here have no other fire-fighting equipment. Besides, the roads here are so narrow that two autorickshaws can barely cross. In case of an emergency, a fire tender might take hours to reach.Arun Gupta of Hotel Maha Sangh, an association of hotel owners, blamed the fire rules and the apathy of the government to implement a tourist policy. “The norms of running a hotel or the fire safety rules for them should be revised. A fire safety audit should be made mandatory and there should be regular checks on the violators. Blaming all hotel owners for an accident cannot be acceptable,” Gupta said.According to the association, the civic body rarely conducts checks on the hotels that leads to mushrooming of illegal structures.Most of these hotels were found to have installed hand-held fire extinguishers that are mostly foam based and used to control small fires. Fire officials said that abundant use of combustible material on the floor and walls makes even a small fire big.According to an estimate, about 1,500 hotels operate in Paharganj some of which are even carved out of residential properties. In order to attract foreign tourists, the owners set up rooftop cafeterias, which have temporary roofs and are fitted with potential sources of fire like stoves and cylinders.Most of the houses that are more than 30 years old do not comply with fire escape norms that call for a clear exit door. Even if there is a second exit door present at the hotels, these often empty onto a narrow lane that offers little space for a panic stricken crowd to move.“This is the third time I am coming to India and staying at this hotel. Fire safety is a concern. There are elderly tourists who won’t be able to climb down these stairs in an emergency. I find this hotel safer than the others, though,” said US national Graham.Fire officials said only 5% of the hotels were found to be complying with over 50% of the norms in an inspection. Exposed wires and dangerously constructed buildings pose a threat to the area. “We have been warning people about the hazards, there are illegal units running in residential buildings which need to be closed down as well,” said a fire officer.Police and fire officials also said that over 5,000 goods vehicles are parked in the market daily, barely leaving space for pedestrians to move.

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