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Mumbai: Fire breaks out at Reay Road godown; no injuries

This is the sixth such fire

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Another fire broke out in Mumbai – this time it was at a godown at Reay Road, which falls on the Harbour Line.

According to news agency ANI, five fire tenders were rushed to the spot and the flames were doused. Fortunately, nobody was injured.

Sources in the fire department told DNA that a short circuit could have started the fire, but they would not make any official statement until a thorough investigation was conducted

The fire is the sixth case in Mumbai since December 28. Two fires have broken in Lower Parel, one at a sessions’ court in South Mumbai, one in Marol in Andheri East, one in a film studio in Kanjurmarg and finally a godown in Reay Road.

In all, 19 people have died because of the flames – 14 in the Kamala Mills blaze, four in the Marol fire, and one in the Cinevista Studio fire.

Notwithstanding rapid urbanisation and industrialisation, Maharashtra does not have a full-fledged Director of Fire Services since 2014. The Mumbai Fire Brigade (MFB) Chief Fire Officer PS Rahangdale is holding this additional charge and his jurisdiction is not merely restricted to Greater Mumbai but extends to 350 urban local bodies, 26 municipal corporations including Mumbai, 283 industrial estates and major 110 industrial areas across the state. The devastating fire accidents at Kamala Mills, the farsan (snack) mart in Saki Naka and at Cinevista film studio in Kanjurmarg have revealed this shocking fact.

It is mandatory under the provision of Maharashtra Fire Prevention & Life Safety Measures Act, 2006 — which came into effect in December 2008 — to appoint the Director of Fire Services with administrative and statutory powers. The previous director, MV Deshmukh, who was appointed in 2005, retired in 2014.

The Director also enjoys power as an Appellate Authority where the petitioner can challenge any order or approval given by the MFB chief fire officer and other district fire officers. However, fire safety experts cite there is a clear conflict of interest and question how the MFB chief fire officer can work as Director of Fire Services and act as an Appellate Authority and hear cases.

An officer from the state Urban Development Department admitted that the MFB chief fire officer currently assumes charge of Director of Fire Services for the state. The officer told DNA: “It’s up to the state cabinet to take a decision.”

Meanwhile, Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has asked for the gold smelting and polishing units to be shifted elsewhere in Mumbai on the grounds of fire safety.

In the 'Lokshahi Din' program organised in Mantralaya on Monday, Fadnavis asked for these units to be given a three-month notice and for the BMC to hold a meeting to evolve solutions. A Kalbadevi resident Harkisan Goradia had lodged a complaint in this regard.

Chawls and old buildings in areas like Zaveri Bazaar, Tel Galli, Kalbadevi and Bhuleshwar house units that polish and smelt gold and make jewellery. Local residents complain that these pose a major fire hazard in the densely populated and congested area.

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