Mumbai fire
On Friday, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis directed Mumbai’s municipal commissioner Ajoy Mehta to conduct an inquiry and determine who was responsible for the incident.
Mehta suspended five Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials, and transferred assistant municipal commissioner Prashant Sapkale hours after the incident. The police lodged an FIR against the owners of 1Above — Hitesh Sanghvi, Jigar Sanghvi and Abhijit Manka.
In an official statement, the management of 1 Above said it was not to blame: “All our premises are well inspected and we have all requisite permissions.”
According to the Mumbai Fire Brigade (MFB) officials, however, both restaurants did not have emergency exits, which led to over 200 people getting trapped inside. The pubs did not have working fire safety equipment, and flammable material such as tarpaulin sheets and artificial flowers for decoration aggravated the fire, said deputy chief fire officer R Chaudhary.
Mojo Bistro and 1Above had made extensive alterations to the structure of the building, and illegally occupied the large balcony area of the top floor, the officials said. “Both had licences only to use one-third of the area of the floor. The remaining twothirds was supposed to an open balcony.”
In August, the BMC had demolished part of the balcony extension common to Mojo Bistro and 1Above. In September, the BMC found the space was being used again, and in October, it raided and confiscated the furniture placed in the balcony. 1Above was taken to court on three occasions between May and September.
But the BMC failed to answer questions about why it did not cancel their licences, and why the restaurants were allowed to continue serving customers.
“Five officers from the civic body have already been suspended. If they are found guilty of giving permissions illegally, they too will be booked for criminal offence. The owner-directors of the rooftop restaurant are being booked under various sections of the IPC and are facing the charge of culpable homicide,” Fadnavis said after visiting the site.
Survivors from the fire said the staff, rather than pointing them to an exit, advised them to stay in the bathrooms. “We had rushed into the bathroom, and the staff wouldn’t let us come out. That’s how many people suffocated,” said Pratik Thakur, 28, who was at 1Above. Some of the victims were found outside a restroom that had no windows.
Mahesh Narvekar, the head of the BMC’S disaster management cell, added: “The first rule during a fire is not to haul up in enclosed spaces, especially small rooms that get clouded with smoke. Restaurant staff did the exact opposite (of what they should have done).”