The incident joins a grim list of industrial tragedies in the capital — including the Alipur fire (February 2024, 10 deaths), Mundka (May 2022, 27 deaths), and Bawana (January 2018, 17 deaths)
NEW DELHI – In a tragic incident that underscores the persistent neglect of worker safety in Delhi’s industrial clusters, a fire broke out on Tuesday in a factory manufacturing plastic and readymade bags in Rithala village in the northwest of the national capital. The blaze claimed the lives of four workers and highlighted once again the hazardous conditions in which lakhs of informal workers operate daily.
The Delhi State Committee of Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) has demanded compensation of Rs 30 lakh each to the families of the deceased workers and immediate penal action against the factory owners and concerned officials “who failed in their regulatory duties”. A delegation of CITU visited the factory and met the affected workers and their families.
The incident joins a grim list of industrial tragedies in the capital — including the Alipur fire (February 2024, 10 deaths), Mundka (May 2022, 27 deaths), and Bawana (January 2018, 17 deaths) — with each incident exposing systemic failures in enforcing safety norms in unregulated industrial units.
According to preliminary reports, the Rithala factory was operating in a residential area, illegally converted into an industrial site. There was only one exit route available, which proved fatal when the fire broke out. Rescue operations were hampered to such an extent that fire officials had to deploy earthmovers to break through a wall for entry and relief efforts.
Workers’ unions and labour rights activists have repeatedly raised alarms over the growing number of such unauthorised units, many of which lack even basic fire safety measures. “Every year, workers die or become permanently disabled in accidents like these, but authorities fail to act,” said a representative of CITU’s Delhi chapter.
After the Alipur fire in 2024, the Labour Commissioner had promised coordinated action between the Factories Department, Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), and electricity providers to relocate hazardous industrial units from residential zones. Additionally, the Labour Department pledged to act as a legal representative for workers affected by such disasters. But activists say these promises have largely remained on paper.
In light of the upcoming nationwide general strike on July 9 against the contentious Four Labour Codes, the CITU reiterated that incidents like the Rithala fire are “reality checks” on the conditions faced by the country’s working class. The new Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, which proposes to double the threshold number of workers exempted from basic safety regulations in power-free units, could leave nearly 95% of Delhi-NCR factories outside the regulatory ambit, unions warn.
“The Delhi government, which is aggressively demolishing jhuggis instead of fulfilling its ‘Jahaan Jhuggi Wahaan Makaan’ promise, must immediately address such blatant violations happening under its nose,” the CITU said.
