There was no hanky-panky at the Goyal shopping centre fire at Borivli on February 18. The Mumbai fire brigade, in its report on the cause of the fire which claimed one of its officers, claimed that the fire was triggered due to a short circuit. The report was submitted on Thursday.
Pradeepkumar Zagade, an assistant station officer,suffocated to death, and two other firemen suffered injuries while dousing the fire. Apart from the loss of human life, the incident inflicted property losses for 55 shops — 45 in the basement and 15 on the ground floor. It took over 72 hours to extinguish the fire.
There were allegations of foul play from several quarters. Local political leaders had even demanded an independent inquiry by the criminal investigation department (CID) into the incident.
The report inferred that overloading of electric circuit caused the fire. Senior fire officers blamed the lack of adequate fire safety measures at the shopping complex for the extensive damage.
“The basement was ill-ventilated and had little visibility. The access provided to it was not fire-safe,” a senior official said. The fire brigade report has highlighted these points.
According to the plans approved by the municipal corporation, the basement was meant to be used as a godown space. The BMC has said that shops should not have been set up in the basement. While the BMC claimed to have initiated action against the shopping complex and shop owners for the illegal use two years ago, there was no change in ground realities.
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