Two casualties reported in Navi Mumbai fire, blaze under control
Two persons have died in a blaze that broke out at Navi Mumbai’s Khairane MIDC on Friday afternoon which left four companies gutted.
The first casualty was reported at 7 am on Saturday after fire officers managed to partially douse and cool the flames and reach the terrace of the West Coast Polychem Pvt Ltd. At noon, the second body was discovered in the bathroom on the second floor of that building. While the major blaze is under control, small fires were still being doused and officials said they are under control, with no chances of it spreading.
“In the areas wherein the fire is doused, we are conducting a cooling procedure. The first body was identified as that of Sukumaran Nair (65) and the second one of Nikhil Sanjay Pashilkar (25),” NMMC fire officer Purushottam Jadhav, said.
While Nair, a resident of Kalyan was the manager of the Polychem company, Pashilkar was a lab technician.
The fire that started from West Coast Polychem Pvt Ltd, spread to Hind Elastomers Pvt Ltd and two small PAP plots behind the companies. “Prima facie, the source of the fire seems to be from the ground floor of the West Coast Polychem Pvt Ltd,” said fire officer RB Patil from MIDC.
“The biggest problem in
MIDC area is of lack of safety. Even the marginal spaces between the two companies were used for dumping drums and it becomes a challenge for us to work and douse the fire,” Patil said.
“The chemical that is manufactured here is called Polycure PQD which is used in weapons. It is extremely dangerous and is marked in red in accordance with the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board. None of the staff is provided with helmets and is given low quality gloves and boots. Apart from a 1.5 kg and 2.5kg cylinder, there is nothing else to fight the fire. In such chemical companies, the fire can be doused only with foam,” GS Nair, one of the company’s former employees said.
The deceased Nair, who had worked in the company for 17 years, also left the company during Covid. However, he joined the company again in February after his company requested him to resume work.
“My friend was making frantic calls to everyone after he was stuck in the terrace. He could be saved if there was timely help. The fire brigade reached very late and by then, the fire was all over. There are drums of 20kg and 200 kg kept outside the company which has solvents making the fire even worse,” GS Nair said. Several attempts to contact the company’s owner, but his phone was switched off.
“We have registered an accidental death repor,” senior police inspector said.