Fire at Bandra slum injures 2
MUMBAI: Two persons were injured in a fire that broke out at the Shastri Nagar slum near the Bandra railway station on Tuesday morning. Around 20 to 25 huts sustained damages in the blaze.
The fire, which broke out at 10.24am, had intensified in three minutes and was categorised as Level 2 (medium) by the fire brigade.
Five fire engines and four jumbo tankers were brought to the spot, and the fire was doused by 1.20pm. While the fire was being put out, P Rahangdale, chief fire officer, said, “The fire is confined to the houses and household articles such as furniture, mattresses, clothes, electric equipment and wiring.”
The two injured men, identified as Akbar Shaikh, 50, and Asif Mansuri, 35, were rushed to the Bhabha Hospital in Bandra. Their condition is said to be stable.
Locals suspected a short circuit to be the cause of the fire. A senior fire brigade official involved in the firefighting said, “It is a very congested area with narrow access ways. But we confined the fire to a few houses from where it started.”
Bandra’s MLA Ashish Shelar tweeted about the incident and said he was coordinating with local authorities for relief and rescue operations.
Majority of the slums around the Bandra Railway station are unauthorised and various demolition drives by the local ward office have been carried out against them. Despite this, illegal structures have increased in the area over the years.