‘Kamala Mills fire has shaken our conscience’

The Kamala Mills compound blaze that claimed 14 lives has shaken the conscience of society and is an eye-opener, the Bombay high court said on Monday, and held that the tragedy was a result of the administration’s failure to ensure strict adherence to fire safety norms.

The court asked the city’s civic body to bring its house in order.

The HC made the observations while hearing a PIL filed by former Mumbai police commissioner Julio Ribeiro, seeking a judicial inquiry into the incident and also a direction to the government and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation to carry out fire safety audit of all eateries and restaurants.

“The unfortunate incident has shaken our conscience. It is time the BMC keeps its house in order,” a division bench of Justices RM Borde and RG Ketkar said. Fourteen people had died and over 30 others injured when a massive fire swept through ‘1 Above’ and ‘Mojo’s Bistro’ pubs on December 29.

BMC’s counsel Anil Sakhare told the court today that the state government had directed the civic body chief, Ajoy Mehta, to submit a report on the incident.

The commissioner is expected to submit his report by the end of this week, he said. The court directed the civic body to also submit a copy of the report to it on the next date of hearing on February 12. The HC also directed the corporation to file a detailed affidavit, giving details of conditions that are to be followed before granting licence to commercial establishments to serve food and beverages.

MUMBAI: