The fire engulfed 170 shanties and damaged many others surrounding it. Three firemen sustained minor injuries during firefighting operations.
A day after a massive fire broke out on Thursday afternoon in the Garib Nagar slums in Behrampada area of Bandra East during a demolition drive ordered by the Bombay High Court, civic officials said on Friday that they suspected foul play behind the fire. The BMC intends to carry out further demolition in the area.
A senior civic officer, on condition of anonymity, said that while a thorough investigation into the cause of the fire is being carried out by the Mumbai Fire Brigade and Nirmal Nagar police, the way the fire started from the ground up, in an area where there was no electrical wiring, indicated that some material lying on the ground was deliberately ignited.
The fire engulfed 170 shanties and damaged many others surrounding it. Three firemen sustained minor injuries during firefighting operations.
"I was present during the demolition and we had asked Reliance Energy to cut the power supply. In most cases, the fire gets ignited due to short circuit. However, as the area had no electricity supply there was no chance of fire getting started through electrical wiring. We initially saw some material, 5 to 6 feet long, lying on the ground on fire. Within minutes, the flames fanned out," a civic official said.
"The demolition was carried out of the slums falling in the buffer zone of the Tansa pipeline as per the High Court's order, and we wanted to demolish over 190 shanties. As 50 to 60 shanties were demolished, the fire broke out and engulfed almost 170 shanties and damaged others. The slum dwellers here have always resisted demolition. It is most likely that the fire was started to stop the demolition," the officer added.
However, Chief Fire Officer P S Rahangdale said, "The official call of fire being doused was at 6 am on Tuesday morning. We will start the investigation of the cause of this major fire. It is a slum cluster and a complicated matter. We will take at least a week to find the cause of the fire".
Meanwhile, on Friday, slum dwellers were busy making temporary shelters out of clothes and rods for themselves to stay in. While the civic body did not carry out further demolition on Friday, the slum dwellers were seen making food in a community kitchen and making a shelter for themselves with the help of sarees and bamboo.
Mohammed Kalim, who lost his home due to fire and a member of Garib Nagar Welfare Association, said, "We are not illegal dwellers. Majority of us have been staying here since few decades, and have identity proof. We met our lawyer on Friday and he has told us to bring all documents which will help us to get our homes. We have been running from pillar to post after the demolition and fire. Most of the belongings have got damaged due to fire.
Children have their exams from the first week of November, but do not have any study material."
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