North Delhi Municipal Corporation mayor Preeti Aggarwal has lashed out at Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal over a video that went viral after the Bawana fire incident that killed 17 people.
In the video, Aggarwal is head speaking to her aides telling them that nobody should talk about the fire, as the building had been given a licence by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi. However, Aggarwal has claimed that the video had been doctored.
“A video of me is being made viral on social media and has been retweeted by CM as well. I only made some inquiry about the place from my co-workers and I meant we shouldn't say anything about such unfortunate incident at this time,” she told ANI.
Adding that Kejriwal’s government had allotted the land to the industrial area, Aggarwal said that it was their responsibility to see what work was being done there. “Is making a fake video viral and confusing public is fair? It's condemnable and I expect Arvind Kejriwal Ji to apologise,” she claimed.
In the allegedly doctored video, Aggarwal is heard saying that the licensing of this factory is with us, that's why we cannot say anything before speaking to the media.
Aggarwal received support from Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari who said, "Preeti Aggarwal asked whom does the factory come under, it's murmuring, only 'ye factory' is clear. People are trying to make that fake video viral at a sad time just to blame BJP. CM re tweeted it, he must apologise for such low-level politics in time of despair."
Earlier, families of the deceased said that the fire, which started at the storage unit on the ground floor of a two-storey building, ripped through the structure.
Ten women and seven men were killed, and a man and woman were injured who have been admitted to a hospital.
Reports also say that the building did not have a No Objection Certificate from the fire department. The building had one exit, and two fire extinguishers in the entire building that the fire department said was ‘grossly inadequate’. In addition, the building had a basement that had at least 30 workers.
Earlier, the police said that they had a case in the grade four fire that engulfed other factories in the neighbourhood. But those killed worked at the factory that's been found to be illegal, according to the area DM. It did not even have a cracker licence.
The cause of the fire was not immediately known but sources suspect that a short-circuit could have been a trigger.
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