Mumbai: Defective Electric System Led To Poonam Chambers Fire, Say Officials

A week after a major fire broke out at Poonam Chambers, a commercial building in Worli, the Mumbai fire brigade (MFB) investigation revealed that ‘the defective electric circuit’ led to the blaze.

The officials have issued a notice to the owners over “non-compliance with fire safety norms” under section 5 of the Maharashtra Fire Prevention and Life Safety Measures Act. “The building’s inbuilt firefighting system was non-functional for two years and an electric audit was also not submitted. The building committee now has 30 days to comply with all the fire safety norms,” a senior MFB officer told The Free Press Journal.

On December 16, a sprawling 13,000 sq ft studio, owned by the renowned Rajshri Production and located on the second floor of Poonam Chambers, caught fire. The thick smoke engulfed the seven-storey glass façade building.

The incident created a panic but as the mishap occurred on Sunday, major chaos and injuries were averted. “The fire started from the electric box in the southwest office of Rajshari studios,” the investigating officer told this newspaper.

“The security guard tried to extinguish the blaze with the manual fire extinguisher, but it was too late and the blaze spread across. The public announcement system and manual alarm button were also not functional,” the MFB said. If Poonam Chambers' owners do not comply with the fire safety norms within 30 days, further actions will be taken, it added.