43 injured after fire breaks out at SRA building in Kurla

Mumbai: At least 43 people were injured after a fire broke out in a 12-storey Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) building in Kurla West late on Friday night. Of the 43 injured people, 29 had to be hospitalised.

The blaze broke out at 11:45pm due to a short circuit in the electrical duct of the building and around 50 to 60 stranded residents were rescued, officials from the fire department said, adding that the fire was confined to electric wiring, electric installation, scrap materials, among others in the electric duct from ground floor to 12th floor.

“We had to cut off the electric supply of the building. The fire was extinguished around 1:45am with two small hose lines and one high-pressure line of four fire engines,” a BMC official said.

Thirty-two-year-old Pradeep Patekar, a resident of the building, and his eight-year-old daughter were admitted to the Rajawadi Hospital after they inhaled smoke. “We have warned the fire brigade in the past as well on the issue of fire safety norms being repeatedly flouted, but no authorities have paid any heed to it. We also wrote a letter to the local fire station a few months ago, requesting them to look at illegal storage on the ground floor which may lead to fire,” he said.

Patekar was asleep when he heard people screaming, ‘Fire, fire.’ “There are 14 members in my family. We all locked ourselves in the bedroom since there was too much smoke in the passage. After the arrival of the fire brigade, local men and fire officials rescued us, however, I was feeling dizzy and had to be admitted,” he added.

Assistant divisional fire officer Ravikiran Karalkar of Mumbai Fire Brigade confirmed that the fire erupted due to an electrical glitch. “These SRA buildings are not maintained and have no OC. There was too much smoke, and we rescued most of the people from the staircase and sent them to hospital,” he said.

Another senior fire official from the Mumbai Fire Brigade said it is likely that the building has no OC and investigations are on as well as a notice has been issued to the owner of the land and the building.

Shubhash Khurangale, another resident of the building, said, “A lot of people were sleeping when we heard about the fire. The fire from the electric duct went all the way up to the 12th floor. We managed to douse a lot of fire before the arrival of the fire brigade.”

Khurangale said many residents of the building are project-affected people (PAP) who were relocated to the building. “Seven years ago, the BMC shifted us here for some project. How are we supposed to know whether buildings have OC or not and whether the building has fire NOC or not? Here residents are struggling with water and other basic necessities for survival,” he added.

Meanwhile, according to the BMC, out of the 43 injured persons, 39 were rushed to Rajawadi Hospital, Ghatkopar, and four were taken to the nearby Kohinoor Hospital. Of the 39 patients, 29 were admitted and 10 patients took DAMA (Discharge Against Medical Advice) and returned home, BMC’s disaster management department said, adding that the four taken to Kohinoor Hospital were treated and sent home immediately, without the need of hospitalisation.

A doctor who was in charge of the treatment of the victims at Rajawadi Hospital said, “All are stable and have throat irritation because of smoke inhalation. All the investigation reports – X-ray and blood reports – are normal.”

The medical superintendent of Rajawadi Hospital confirmed that two women aged 45 and 25 were kept under observation and the discharge process for the rest of the patients was ongoing till late evening.

Dr Vidya Thakur, chief medical superintendent, said patients started trickling in after 1am. “We stabilised them and put them on oxygen support,” she said.

(with inputs from Yogesh Naik)