Kamala Mills Fire: Family of deceased cousins holds candlelight march in Ghatkopar

Following the Kamala Mills fire, the Mumbai Fire Brigade has decided to set up a toll-free number. Citizens can easily register their complaints through this number and even alert the fire brigade about any accident.

According to Chief Fire Officer P Rahangdale, the fire brigade is working on the proposal. “Very soon, we will share the toll-free number with people. Anyone can call or send messages to us. Everything will be well documented. Once the complaint is addressed, the complainant will be informed about it. However, people need to be aware of the fire-safety measures. Most of the time people notice things — possible dangers — but they do not bother to take them seriously and inform us,” he said.

Citizens will have to be proactive, he said. “In the last four years, we have taken action on 4,000 complaints and prosecuted 11 persons. When we see a lapse in fire-safety measure, we issue notices to housing societies and commercial complexes. People do comply, but some time they ignore as well. If our notices are not taken seriously, we prosecute defaulters. But that percentage is low because people do comply and inform us,” said Rahangdale.

The Chief Fire Officer said when people submit their proposals all details in the submitted plan are checked. DNA Correspondent

Several candles lit the road at Ghatkopar East on Sunday evening in remembrance of two women, Kavita Dharani and Tejal Gandhi. The two women lost their lives in the Kamala Mills fire along with 12 other people on Thursday night.

The family and friends of both, along with locals from Ghatkopar - Tejal and Kavita were cousins - started their candle march from Tejal's residence, Bhaveshwar building, at around 7.40 pm. Her husband Bhavin and other family members were at the front and assembled at Vikrant circle.

"A single fire changed our lives in a minute," said Nemish Shah, uncle to both Kavita and Tejal.

The sombre looks on their faces made evident the relatives' disappointment and anger towards the authorities, who did little to control rampant illegal extensions of posh, fancy hotels and lounge bars. One part of this two-lane road was blocked for the silent candlelight march.

"When the BMC can demolish several structures in one day, it means they already knew about it. Corruption is embedded deep in the system," said another relative who didn't want to be named.

These people walked towards Kavita's place of residence --- Indralok CHS --- where her husband Piyush Dharani and families were waiting with candles and her photo frames. Here the two families came together and shared their grief.

The locals there said that it is nothing but connivance between the hoteliers and the BMC as the latter managed to demolish so many illegal structures without batting an eyelid. The people there demanded better infrastructure for safety purposes, well-lit entry and exit points, trained staff to tackle emergency situations, removal of illegal structures such as hoardings and other obstructions inside and most importantly strict action against government officials for wrongfully giving permission for such illegal extensions.

"If the BMC can act in one day then they can do it every day. People have lost their lives and it should be ensured that such acts are not repeated henceforth," said Mohan Agarwal, a local resident and family friend. At 8.15 pm, the candle march ended.

The two women had been to 1Above to celebrate the purchase of a new car along with their family members at 1Above. Dharani and Gandhi decided to rush towards the washroom to take shelter and escape the fire. However, both didn't survive the incident.