Alipur blaze: NGT orders Rs 20 lakh compensation to kin of 11 deceased

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has ordered a compensation of Rs 20 lakh to the families of each of the 11 people killed in a fire in a paint factory in outer Delhi’s Alipur area.

The charred bodies of the 11 victims, 10 men and one woman, were recovered from the factory, which also housed chemical godowns, in Alipur’s Dayalpur market. The blaze broke out on 15 February, following which the NGT took suo motu (of its own) cognisance of a newspaper report about the tragedy.

In a recent order, a bench of NGT chairperson justice Prakash Shrivastava noted that the joint inspection report by the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC), the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and the district magistrate of north Delhi said the factory was running "illegally in a densely populated area."

"It is also stated (in the report) that the cause of the fire incident was welding activity being carried out in the factory in the presence of drums filled with chemicals or substances. When the fire broke out inside the factory premises, chemicals fell on the roads and drains and the fire spread rapidly even outside resulting in the death of 11 persons and injury to four," the bench, also comprising expert member A. Senthil Vel, said.

The sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) of Alipur had also filed a report on the compensation granted to nine of the 11 deceased. It said a compensation of Rs 10 lakh was sanctioned for the families of the seven deceased, while the amount for the other two victims stood at Rs 3 lakh and Rs 5 lakh, the tribunal noted.

"We are of the opinion that family members of each of the deceased persons are entitled to receive compensation of Rs 20 lakh without prejudice to higher claim that may be raised in any other forum," the tribunal said.

"Hence, the differential amount will be paid by SDM (Alipur) within two months with the right to recover it from the project proponent (factory owner)," it added.