Year After Mumbai's Kamala Mills Blaze, Another Fire Near Compound

A major fire broke out in a building under construction in central Mumbai this morning. The fire at the building located near Kamala Mills compound was brought under control after four fire engines were pressed into service. No injuries have been reported.

Last year, on December 29, a major fire was reported at two rooftop restaurants in the Kamala Mills compound, leaving several people dead. 

The fire at two rooftop restaurants -- Mojo's Bistro and '1 Above' -- at Kamala Mills Compound had left 14 people dead and several others injured.

In the last two weeks, 20 people have lost their lives and over 150 have been injured in different fire incidents across the city.

On Thursday, five people died after a major fire broke out in a high-rise residential building in Chembur. Another fire broke out earlier on the day in Bhendi Bazar's Dongri Jail Road. No casualties were reported in the incident.

On December 17, ten people died after a major fire at a government-run hospital in Andheri. The 325-bed hospital did not have the fire department's no-objection certificate, mandatory for such institutes to function. Nearly 375 people, including patients and visitors, were in the five-floor hospital when the fire broke out.

In April, an RTI reply had revealed that the Mumbai Fire Brigade (MFB) has no information on the status of the mandatory fire audits for all buildings.

Right to Information (RTI) activist Anil Galgali had sought the information on the fire audits, entrusted to the MFB, in the wake of the devastating fire in Kamala Mills Compound in December 2017 and other subsequent fires which claimed many lives in the city.

For Mumbai, a Nominated Officer under the Act has been authorised in all the 34 fire stations to conduct inspections of the buildings in their jurisdiction limits. Yet the MFB has no clue on the progress of the fire audits completed in their respective areas, MFB's Divisional Fire Officer SD Sawant had pointed out in the RTI reply.