Most of goods destroyed in Tughlakabad fire not insured

NEW DELHI - A day after goods worth crores of rupees were destroyed in a fire in a container depot in the capital, an exporter\’s group Sunday appealed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for compensation as the majority of goods were not insured.

Claiming their losses to be around Rs.100 crore, Delhi Exporters Association president S.P. Agarwal said: \”We have demanded compensation from the Container Corporation of India. But they are shying away from taking the responsibility of the incident and we are left with no option but to seek the prime minister\’s help.\”

The depot, known as Asia\’s biggest inland port, is maintained by the Container Corporation of India Limited (CONCOR), a government of India undertaking.

According to Agarwal, a majority of goods were not insured as traders generally avoid insurance for the transit phase.

\”It is the responsibility of manufacturers to bear the insurance from factory to CONCOR premises. The goods remain for few hours there before they are sent for shipment to destination. Generally traders avoid insurance during this transit period. Once the goods are transported, buyers take care of insurance,\” Agarwal told IANS.

The fire at the Inland Container Depot (ICD) at Tughlakabad Saturday destroyed 24 of the 25 warehouses that store goods meant for exports.

The fire at the ICD burnt readymade garments, textiles, handicrafts, leather goods, furniture, auto-parts components, engineering items and medicines.

The ICD is spread over 60 hectares near the Tughlaqabad railway station in south Delhi.

\”We can only give a rough estimate of losses incurred in the fire. The goods which are burnt are gone, the rest was destroyed by the water from the fire tenders. A portion of the roof which fell also claimed a lot of goods,\” said Agarwal.

According to the association, cotton garment manufacturers have suffered the most in the blaze.

\”In past few months, the rates of yarn have increased 30 to 40 percent and they have to buy the yarn at higher rates to meet the placed orders,\” he said.

\”It takes three to four month of production to fill a container and we need financial help from government as we don\’t have surplus money to start the production work again,\” he said.

CONCOR has set up a committee to investigate the incident but none of the officials were ready to comment on the