The year’s ending on a sad note and Mumbaikars are heart-broken upon hearing about the tragedy that took place at Mumbai’s upscale hub, Kamala Mills compound.
14 lives were claimed and several injured, when fire broke out at the restro-bar at the roof-top of a building at around 12.30 a.m.
The rescue operations ended in the morning and people in Lower Parel are trying to get the grasp of the situation, to bring it under control.
Amid the pool of condolences and wishes that are going out to the families of the victims, there are Tweeple who are pointing out to the fact that it was a tragedy waiting to happen.
1. People took to the micro-blogging site to point out that it was waiting to happen.
How was #KamalaMills given so many permissions to build and build and build and choke out each and every inch of space would always be beyond me. I hope the families of deceased drag the owners to court.
— Anuj Singhal अनुज सिंघल (@_anujsinghal) December 29, 2017
2. They pointed out the webs of illegal electrical wiring.
This is crazy! So glad you are safe. Most such places in Mumbai are a maze of illegal electrical wiring with wires hanging all over the place. A disaster waiting to happen.
— Nandita Iyer (@saffrontrail) December 28, 2017
3. One dug up an old video of a different restro-bar, destroyed in the same fire, that raises questions the fire safety.
#kamalamillsfire tragedy, I found this old video which claims of fire blows at mojo's from #KamalaMills . Is it safe? Do they have safety measures installed? Does this is the reason of fire? So many questions, but who cares. Just have money, spend it.. @MumbaiPolice @TV9Marathi pic.twitter.com/dwtZ1glD63
— Sameer Sawant (@imsameersawant) December 29, 2017
4. People snapped out at the BMC’s regulations and their corruption.
If the building has only 1 lift without stairs, how could #BMC grant permission the #restaurants to operate? Smacks of #corruption at various levels. Sad. #KamalaMillsFire
— Supratim Pal (@SupratimPMirror) December 29, 2017
5. The fire compliance of the buildings in Mumbai are to be questioned.
Isn’t it a BMC issue that a disaster like this occurred? Kamala Mills currently is overflowing with restaurants & bars and I’m quite certain they aren’t all fire compliant.
— Devika Manjrekar (@devikambing) December 29, 2017
6. It was an illegal construction, and tragic that the authorities didn’t take action before.
kamala mill pub fire-understood that several such establishments at kamla mills compound are illegal, part of which was regularised lately , the place where fire took place was illegal
— Kirit Somaiya (@KiritSomaiya) December 29, 2017
7. Corruption is a bigger issue than it ever was.
While my prayers are with the victims of an incident, just want to know how much more time #mumbaikar will take to make sure such things never happen again. For how long we will rely on #BMC, #cronypoliticians and unscrupulous #businessman will #kamalamillsfire #KamlaMills
— Maulik Vyas (@MaulikVyas_ET) December 29, 2017
8. One man, who was there at the venue, pointed out that it was packed, and there were many things that could’ve led to the fire.
I was there at #1Above last night at Kamala Mills till 10.45pm. Being a ladies night it was packed with women. Hookahs were seen with coal fire at many tables and smoking all over the place. No fire exit. Only a small lift lobby. Very sad incident #KamlaMillsFire #KamalaMills
— Rajesh Bhojani (@rajesh_bhojani) December 29, 2017
9. People were talking about how there are buildings in posh areas not abiding the safety regulations.
We talk of dingy hotels in Kurla catching fire & blame wrong building permits, no fire safety. #kamalamills is one of the posh locations with world class restaurants. What happened to fire safety? #KamalaMillsFire
— Archana Shukla (@archanajsr) December 28, 2017
10. BMC, are you listening?
https://twitter.com/lindsaypereira/status/946504228603875333
11. They are.
Our fire fighting systems are a sham. B it hotel,restaurant or comm/resident property, they dnt comply 2 all norms but get permissions thanks to corruption! Aren’t Govt officials granting permissions equally responsible? #KamalaMills @Dev_Fadnavis @smart_mumbaikar @HrishiKay
— 𝕊𝕠𝕔𝕚𝕒𝕝 𝕕𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕟𝕔𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕊𝕚𝕟𝕕𝕙𝕚 (@Mash_Tweetwani) December 29, 2017
An activist, Mangesh Kalasar, has repeatedly complained about the illegal constructions in the compound. But, it all fell on deaf ears.
I made several complaints regarding illegal structures in #KamalaMills' premises, but the BMC replied that there is nothing wrong here: Mangesh Kalaskar, Activist #Mumbai pic.twitter.com/npv20egqmN
— ANI (@ANI) December 29, 2017
A case has been registered against the pub, 1 Above, where the fire started.
#UPDATE A case has been registered under section 304 against the restaurant where the fire initiated #KamalaMills https://t.co/AyoaETkKml
— The Times Of India (@timesofindia) December 29, 2017
People took matter in their own hands and are starting a hashtag where they tag about a place that’s unsafe, using the hashtag #UnsafePublicPlace.
There is something we can all do- when you see an unsafe public place tweet about it with #UnsafePublicPlace and tag the place. #KamalaMills
— Deepak (@DD2sec) December 29, 2017
How tragic is this? People were talking about it, trying to raise awareness about a possible mishap. And, it happened. Still, the authorities are not waking up. We all remember the Elphinstone Bridge tragedy and the lives it took, and the Kurla fire, the Bandra fire and so many incidents.
When will the civic bodies take responsibility and do their duties?