ADVERTISEMENTREMOVE AD

QMumbai: No Fire Safety at Kamala Mills, BMC Slammed

Updates to the Kamala Mills fire tragedy and other city stories.

Updated
India
8 min read
story-hero-img
i
Aa
Aa
Small
Aa
Medium
Aa
Large
Hindi Female

1. Tragedy At Kamala Mills: No Roof, No Safety Measures Either

Updates to the Kamala Mills fire tragedy and other city stories.
At least 14 people were killed and as many injured after a major fire engulfed Kamala Mills compound in Lower Parel, Mumbai on Thursday night.
(Photo: PTI)

Is the BMC capable of ensuring rooftop restaurants adhere to the rules? A preliminary investigation into Thursday night’s fire at 1Above and Mojo’s Bistro in Lower Parel by the BMC provides the answer. “The only proper access to 1Above was a small lift. Those not taking the lift had to duck under a huge iron structure to enter the restaurant,” a BMC official who inspected the spot said.

It has also come to light that both 1Above and Mojo’s Bistro were issued multiple notices regarding unauthorised construction. Interestingly, 1Above was launched in 2016, and by October this year, it had been issued three notices for violations.

Mojo’s, housed on the terrace next to 1Above, was issued a notice in June for constructing a shed on the terrace. According to the notice, a copy of which is available with Mumbai Mirror, the entire shed was illegal.

“We had issued notices under the Maharashtra Regional Town Planning (MRTP) Act and Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act. An order was later passed to demolish the illegal construction after the owners did not adhere to the notices,” a senior civic official said.

According to the copy of the notices accessed by Mumbai Mirror, Mojo’s is owned by Yug Pathak and Yug Tuli. Pathak is the son of former Pune Police Commissioner KK Pathak, who said, “My son is a minor partner. The other partner is Yug Tuli of Nagpur. If there were violations, the BMC will look into it. In fact, Mojo’s had a fire drill last month and it had helped,” KK Pathak said.

(Source: Mumbai Mirror)

ADVERTISEMENTREMOVE AD

2. Kamala Mills Fire: Standing Committee Members Slam BMC, Mayor Says Fire Audit Soon

Updates to the Kamala Mills fire tragedy and other city stories.
A massive fire broke out in Kamala Mills on Thursday night.
(Photo: Twitter/@journoaman) 

Corporators across party lines on Friday demanded that the process of giving permissions for new parties be made stringent following the major fire in the Kamala Mills Compound. At a Standing Committee meeting on Friday held at the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation headquarters, amid a furore, some corporators also asked for action against officials for the fire at Sakinaka 10 days ago, in which 12 people died.

As soon Municipal Commissioner Ajoy Mehta announced his decision to suspend five officials and transfer the ward officer of G South ward, a few corporators argued that similar action should be against ward officials of the L ward also. “Twelve people died in a fire in an illegal farsan shop on Khairani road in Sakinaka. Despite the shop being registered with the shops and establishment department of L ward, the officials were clueless whether the shop owner had procured required licences. Why is no action taken against them? The only difference is that the farsan shop was located in a slum, while 1 Above was a popular hangout. We have demanded action against L ward officials,” said Abhijit Samant, BJP corporator.

Members of the Standing Committee and corporators from across party lines came together to slam the civic body over its failure to ensure that commercial units and restaurants are fire safety compliant and are not flouting any norms.

(Source: Indian Express)

0

3. Kamala Mills Fire: Restaurants Unlikely To Change Dec 31 Plans

THE phone has been ringing incessantly at Farzi Cafe. The upscale eatery, owned by Zoravar Kalra’s Massive Restaurants, is a mere few feet away from the site of Thursday night’s tragedy. They are sticking to the plans for New Year’s Eve with DJ Conrad. Their patrons, many of who have booked spots for the restaurant’s New Year’s Eve package starting at Rs 4,000 per head, are now both curious and concerned. Is the restaurant open? Is it even safe to be there? “They are calling for reassurance, and that’s only expected. But we haven’t faced any cancellations yet so we will go as per our plan,” said Abdul Ansari of Farzi Cafe.

Kamala Mills Complex in Lower Parel houses over 30 restaurants, pubs and nightclubs, and houses several office complexes. The vast stretch of the complex extends from Tulsi Pipe Road right up to Pandurang Budhkar Marg and also includes land from Victoria Mills, redeveloped as Oasis City. Standing at Gate No 4 at the rear end of the compound, which overlooks Oasis City, it is easy to believe that all is good this Friday afternoon. Restaurants are open for business, patrons are flitting in and out and boards announcing their plans for the New Year’s Eve are placed near the entrances. It’s business as usual. However, many restaurateurs there confessed that they have called for huddles with their teams to reassess the situation.

“With the tragedy so near New Year’s Eve, it’s a difficult decision to take,” said Jaydeep Singh Bika, owner of Talaiva. The restaurant, which serves royal Indian cuisines, is located in Oasis City that is part of the Kamala Mills compound. “We have booked a DJ and called in resources according to the bookings, especially since we have permissions to stay open till 4 am. It’s an investment and now we are not sure if the guests will be in a mood for DJ music or prefer a quiet candlelit dinner. We are now preparing for both,” he added.

(Source: Indian Express)

ADVERTISEMENTREMOVE AD

4. 8 Women Drive From Pune To Mumbai To Confront Pervert Who Harassed Their Friend

When you mess with one woman, you have to answer to all her friends. Eight women drove all the way from Pune to Mumbai to teach a lesson to a Mulund-based man who had slept with their friend, cheated her of Rs 5 lakh, and then sent compromising pictures of her to all of them. Needless to say, the man apologised promptly and promised to never make the same mistake again.

According to the women, the accused, Mahendra Salvi, was in a relationship with one of them but he cheated her. "He told me he was a reputed builder in Kalyan and asked me to invest in one of his projects. He took Rs 5 lakh from me, promising to give me Rs 30 lakh in six months. That was two years ago," said the victim. "Recently, I demanded that he return my money, following which we had an argument," she added.

In order to teach her a lesson, Mahendra circulated some of their intimate photos among her circle of friends. He didn't stop there; he also began sending them obscene messages on WhatsApp and social media. All the women in the group are married, which complicated things for them. One of the women recalled, "The photos embarrassed us deeply. We were scared to leave our phones unattended anywhere, and we could not sleep out of the fear that our husbands would see these messages."

(Source: Mid-Day)

ADVERTISEMENTREMOVE AD

5. Aadhaar Deadline Keeps Schools On Tenterhooks

Updates to the Kamala Mills fire tragedy and other city stories.
Photo for representational purpose only.
(Photo: PTI)

Ahead of the state government’s last date for ‘Sancha Manyata’ (approval process) for deciding the teacher strength in schools based on students holding Aadhaar cards, government-run and aided schools have found themselves in a spot as all their students still do not have Aadhaar cards.

The state government recently announced that the data of students, including their Aadhaar numbers, entered in the school-staff-student online portal SARAL (Systematic Administrative Reforms for Achievement of Learning by Students) till January 1, 2018 only will be considered to fix the exact strength of teachers in a school. It also declared that only those students, who have their IDs linked to their Aadhaar numbers, will be recognized as students.

Since the number of teachers will now be decided in accordance to the recognized students, schools fear that counting Aadhaar numbers would bring down their student count and subsequently their teacher count too.

“I have 1,520 students in my school and 20 among them do not have Aadhaar numbers. These students will not be counted in the section approval process,” said Shankar Pawar, principal of AFAC English School, Chembur speaking of how the new system will affect the student count and teacher count.

(Source: Mumbai Mirror)

ADVERTISEMENTREMOVE AD

6. 2 Bike-Borne Men Swipe 6 Chains In 30 Minutes At Vikhroli, Mulund

It was a blur of gold on Tuesday night in Vikhroli and Navghar (Mulund) - two men on a red Pulsar bike targeted senior citizens and fled with six gold chains in 30 minutes. The Navghar police have registered four cases and the Vikhroli cops two.

In Vikhroli, the incident happened near Tagore Nagar no. 7 - Rajashri Hule, 54, out for a walk, lost her 15-g mangalsutra, followed by Bharti Bansode, 53. "My wife was returning home after closing our shop. There were no streetlights in the area; that's when the bikers came and snatched her 12-g mangalsutra," said her husband Bharat.

Then came Vijaya Pedamkar, 67, who was returning home after attending a satsang; her 30-g gold chain was snatched. "She fell down when the snatchers struck. Now, she refuses to step out of the house," said her son Sudhir. Leelabai Gaikwad, 70, was next - she lost her 15-g chain. In Mulund, Jaya Krushanan, 78, walking near Sambhaji Udyan, lost her 80-g gold ornament.

(Source: Mid-Day)

ADVERTISEMENTREMOVE AD

7. Welcome To...Mumbai’s Human Dumping Ground

Six years ago, the city started packing off thousands of its poorest citizens from various areas to Chembur’s Mahul locality, where they were promised a better life in a huge apartment complex. Today, most of the residents in the colony — which is flanked by smoke-belching chimneys and where basic amenities are appallingly inadequate — are prepared to trade the flats for their old slum existence.

“At least we won’t be breathing in or drinking poison. There won’t be black patches or painful blisters on our skin, and we will still have some way to earn a livelihood,” said 53-year-old resident Sarladevi Gupta.

The Mahul colony, which has 72 buildings, was supposed to be a quiet rehabilitation community for people displaced by various infrastructure and municipal projects across Mumbai, but it is increasingly being described as a hellhole. Sewage routinely overflows, water supply often lasts for only an hour, there is no school or a big hospital, and fumes from refineries and industries nearby fill the air.

Hundreds of residents, across different age groups, are suffering from a wide range of health complications — skin conditions, respiratory problems, low immunity, blood pressure. Many have also complained of rapid hair loss, and irritation in the eyes and a burning sensation in the throat. They have to travel to Ghatkopar, Sion or Crawford Market to seek treatment at a public hospital, the only place they can afford medical care.

(Source: Times of India)

(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)

Read Latest News and Breaking News at The Quint, browse for more from news and india

Topics:  BMC   Kamala Mills Fire 

Published: 
Speaking truth to power requires allies like you.
Become a Member
3 months
12 months
12 months
Check Member Benefits
Read More
×
×