A massive fire broke out at the Indraprastha Shopping Complex on SV Road, Borivali West, in the early hours of Saturday. The fire-fighting operations lasted for more than 11 hours before the fire was finally doused. While no casualties were reported in the incident, it caused heavy damage to property, fire officials said.
The fire originated at the basement of the three-storey shopping centre, and with time, it spread to the ground and first floor of the building. Questions have been raised about the cramped conditions in which shops were operating in the basement.
The Mumbai Fire Brigade (MFB) said it received a call at 3.05 am, and reached the spot at 3.17 am. The fire which was initially categorised as a 'Level 2' fire, was categorised as `Level 3’ at 3.54 am, before being escalated to the highest `Level 4’ at 6.16 am. The MFB was able to douse it around 2.45 pm.
Mumbai Chief Fire Officer (CFO) Prabhat Rahangdale said eight fire engines, ten jumbo tankers and a foam tender were mobilised.
"The fire originated in the basement, which was severely congested. As the level of fire escalated, smoke and heat spread on the ground and first floor of the building. The firefighters faced heavy smoke, and for the purpose of ventilation, we had to bring down the grills of the basement using a JCB," said CFO Rahangdale.
While a staffer in charge of security at the shopping complex said the fire might have been caused due to a short circuit, MFB is yet to ascertain the exact cause of it.
There were nearly 77 shops in the basement, which sold mobile accessories and electronic goods. As the basement was heavily congested and the blanket of smoke impeded the firefighters, MFB deployed its
fire-fighting robot to penetrate the basement and assist in bringing the fire under control. Due to the presence of electronic goods, clothes, and toys inside the shops, the fire intensified. Firefighters had to break open the shops with hammers and chisels.
In 2010, a similar fire broke out at the basement of the Goyal Shopping Complex, located near Indraprastha. The 2010 fire resulted in severe loss of property, and claimed the life of an MFB official. After the incident, BMC had evacuated the congested basements of nearby shopping centres, over concerns that they were like tinderboxes constituting a serious fire hazard.
However, things went back to square one within months. At the time, corporators had demanded a CID probe into the matter and blamed the civic body for turning a blind eye to the congested and cramped manner in which shops were being allowed to operate in the basement of shopping complexes.
On Saturday, after the fire broke out at Indraprastha shopping complex, local Congress corporator Bhushan Patil said, “The basement was meant to be used as parking space. The place was congested and there was little ventilation, I wonder how the BMC allowed these shops to operate, risking lives of so many people. "Corporators have raised this issue several times with civic officials. However, no step was taken," alleged Patil.
Despite repeated attempts, ward officer (R central) Bhagyashree Kapse remained unavailable for comment.
