After a fire broke out at the busy Dadar railway station on Wednesday evening, the city witnessed two major fires on Thursday. A massive fire broke out during the early hours of the morning at the Om Hira Panna Mall at Oshiwara in Andheri and 3,000 hutments were gutted in a fire that broke out in Mankhurd in the afternoon. No casualties were reported in any of the incidents.
The fire brigade has found lacunae and flaws in the fire-fighting system installed at the mall and fire fighters rescued 12 persons that were trapped inside the mall. According to the fire brigade officials, the fire occurred in the basement of the shopping centre at around 4 am.
“The safety measures in the mall such as sprinkle systems, wet-riser systems and the mechanical ventilation which keeps the smoke out were non-functional,” said chief fire officer Uday Tatkare.
While the initial findings point out that the fire broke out due to a short circuit, the fire brigade is yet to ascertain the exact cause. “The basement where the fire took place housed a large consignment of LCD televisions sets were kept. The blaze emitted thick smoke but, the fire was controlled immediately.”
Fire-fighters kept the fire from spreading beyond the basement of the two-storey mall. “There were 12 persons who were trapped on the top floor, who were rescued,” added Mr Tatkare. The mall administration is likely to face action for the non-functional fire safety systems. “There was a godown created in the car park of the basement and the systems were non-functional. We will initiate action under the Maharashtra Fire Prevention and Life Safety Measures Act, 2006 after investigations,” said the CFO.
“The people trapped were from the hospital and a restaurant located on the top floor. The mall has commercial offices on the ground and the first floor. There were fewer persons as the fire broke out very early during the day” said the manager of the mall Mr Upendra. When quizzed about the defunct safety systems, he said, “There was no such incident in the past and I am not aware of it,” he added.
Meanwhile, in another incident, a fire gutted slums near the Mankhurd railway station at around 12 pm on Thursday, while a demolition drive was underway. There are around 3,000 slums on the land that was leased to the Bombay Soap Factory. The fire brigade reached the spot and doused the flames immediately. A police banbodast was implemented in the area, as slumdwellers opposed the demolition work. While there was an initial suspicion that the slumdwellers might have started the fire to stop the demolitions, the fire brigade maintained that investigations were on in this regard.