Activists recall 2015 fire, seek enforcement of fire safety norms

Rescue operation in Mumbai’s sakinaka where fire broke out at a farsan shop. 

The major fire that gutted a shop in Sakinaka Monday and killed 12 people working there has brought to light the casual approach towards fire safety norms at commercial establishments across the city. Many have compared the incident to the fire at City Kinara restaurant in Kurla that killed eight, including seven students. On October 16, 2015, the seven students and a design engineer were trapped after the staircase leading to the first floor of the restaurant was destroyed by a fire. The eight were charred beyond recognition. While five of the students were from Don Bosco Technology Institute, two were media students from a college on the same campus. The eighth victim was Arvind Kanojia, 31, a design engineer from Virar who is survived by his family, including two schoolgoing children.

The students were identified as Sharjeel Shaikh, Akash Thappar, Taha Shaikh, Brian Fernandes, Sajid Choudhary, Erwin D’Souza and Bernadetta D’Souza. They had gone for lunch after their exam. Similar to the Kinara hotel incident, the farsan shop did not comply with fire safety norms. “This, according to us, is gross negligence on the part of civic officials and the fire brigade. We demand that taking responsibility for the disaster, assistant commissioner of L ward Ajit Kumar Ambi must resign from his post. We also demand a compensation of Rs 5 lakh each to the kin of those who lost their lives at the shop on Monday,” said Godfrey Pimenta of Watchdog Foundation.

In December 2015, the BMC had suspended four of its officials in Zone V and L-ward, including two junior engineers and two health officers, for negligence in connection with the City Kinara case. The owner of the restaurant Sudhish Hegde was arrested.

The fire department had made it mandatory for all eateries, hotels and commercial establishments to comply to norms, but there has been no regular inspections, according to activists. After hearing the matter, Lokayukta M L Tahilyani had in September 2016 asked the BMC and Vinoba Bhave Nagar police to file a detailed report on the City Kinara incident. Another NGO, Adhikar Foundation, had written to the Mumbai fire brigade and BMC commissioner, pointing out that many restaurants, hotels and commercial establishments are still not fire compliant.

“We found that there has been no fire safety equipment at many restaurants and commercial establishments. Many of these commercial establishments have been violating fire safety norms and are getting away with it easily. Monday’s fire incident shows that neither the BMC nor the Mumbai fire brigade has learnt any lessons,” said RTI activist and president of Adhikar Foundation Shakeel Shaikh.

Prabhat Rahangdale, Chief Fire Officer of Mumbai Fire Brigade, said, “The cause of fire at the farsan shop is being investigated. We will submit a report soon. As per preliminary investigation, the shop did not seem to be fire complaint. However, we would be able to comment only after the investigation is completed.”

Assistant commissioner of L ward, Ajit Kumar Ambi, too confirmed that the farsan shop lacked fire safety equipment and its premises were not complaint with fire safety measures.