Arpita Sarkar, Mumbai Uncensored, 13th March 2023:
On Monday, police sent a letter to the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) and Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to take required action against contractors of the under-construction SRA building (AIM Paradise in Jogeswari (East) and authorities concerned) for the death of a mother-daughter after iron rod fell on them from 17th floor on Saturday. Several such incidents were reported in conjunction with the blaze in the Appapada area of Mumbai.
A flat owner, Roop Bhatia (43) of Marina Enclave at Jalkalyan Nagar, fell off the ladder during her rescue to escape the massive fire and suffered fractures. Soon, she was taken to a nearby hospital.
After the fire eruption was detected at about 4.45 p.m., officials declared a major, three-level high fire around 5.15 p.m. This fire ignited inside the Appapada slum, which is located in Kurar village in Malad (east), one of Mumbai’s western suburbs. According to authorities, the fire started in a slum in Malad’s Anand Nagar area.
Efforts were made to find the injured and missing people in the incident. One unidentified person’s body was burned to death, while many others were left homeless and were provided with temporary accommodation and food.
The narrow lanes made it hard for the firefighters to reach the spot of the said blaze eruption area, where the fire engulfed nearly 1,000 houses. Furthermore, the road of Western Express, leading to Appapada became more crowded in the evening, making it challenging for the police and fire brigade to navigate the traffic.
Slum-dwellers said multiple cylinder blast noises were heard, which a fire official confirmed, saying that around 15 to 20 cylinder explosions had occurred.
The fire brigade and the police made every effort to prevent the fire from spreading to the forest; otherwise, the fire explosion would have led to a disaster, causing a huge loss to the forest cover in Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP).
