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Fire brigade cuts off power and water supply

That's not all. Most shops had placed a thin mesh on their shutters which increased the intensity of the fire. "Every shop had a loft which was packed with combustible goods like shoes, bags, cloth and hosiery," said chief fire officer Prabhat Rahangdale said.

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The Mumbai fire brigade has decided to cut off electricity and water supply to Bandra's Kenil Worth mall after it found massive violations of fire norms in its stores. Senior fire brigade officials said power and water supply will only be restored after the completion of a proper investigation into the incident.

A fire brigade official said even basic fire-fighting systems such as extinguishers and sprinklers were not in place in most of the shops. "As per the Maharashtra Fire Prevention and Safety Act, 2006, we can send them notices and even prosecute them for not keeping basic functional fire-safety system in place," the official said.

That's not all. Most shops had placed a thin mesh on their shutters which increased the intensity of the fire. "Every shop had a loft which was packed with combustible goods like shoes, bags, cloth and hosiery," said chief fire officer Prabhat Rahangdale said.

The fire brigade team also discovered several gas cylinders stored at the high-end restaurants on the upper floors of the building. The building houses popular eateries and pubs like Big Bang, Kofuku, Bonobo and KFC.
"It is illegal to store so many gas cylinders on such upper floors. We brought down six cylinders from Bonobo," an official said.

Rahangdale said the fire brigade would have had a difficult time controlling the fire had it reached to the upper floors and led to cylinder blasts. "I have directed the officials to register an FIR in the local police station against those restaurants which had stored gas cylinders," he said.

Owner of the mall Sudhakar Shetty couldn't be contacted.

Illegal shops on basement
Officials found out that of the two basements in the mall, one was encroached by illegal shops and the other was serving as a mosque. "The basements should be kept open and free of encroachment," an official said, adding that the shops and the numerous pillars in the basement were acting as obstructions in the fire-fighting operations.

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