Chief of the Mumbai fire brigade Ravindra Ambulgekar and its other senior officials rushed to the spot.Other agencies were also mobilised, the official said, adding that the cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained.”By 5.20 pm, the blaze was covered from all sides, but the firefighting operation was still on,” the official said.At least 13 fire engines and other vehicles were at the spot till the time the fire was covered from all the sides. Later the number of fire engines fell to eight.Around 9 pm, the fire brigade control room said that dousing operations were still underway.This was the second major early-morning blaze in the metropolis in two days.On Sunday, a fire broke out in a building housing the Enforcement Directorate (ED) office in the Ballard Estate area.Former MLA Zeeshan Siddique said the mall had been built by his late father, former Bandra West MLA Baba Siddique, around two decades ago.Claiming that the fire spread due to lapses on the fire brigade’s part, Siddique said he and his associates were at the site since 4 am.Initially, there was only a small spark in the basement of the showroom, he said.”We repeatedly requested for more water tankers, but the fire brigade lacked the necessary equipment.The rear section of the mall was still intact, and we urged them to direct water there but they couldn’t,” Siddique claimed.In a statement, local BJP MLA and Maharashtra cabinet minister Ashish Shelar said he had instructed municipal commissioner Bhushan Gagrani to institute a comprehensive inquiry into the incident.After visiting the spot, Shelar said though no one was injured, the building and businesses it housed suffered extensive damage.As Siddique has raised some questions, he asked Gagrani to conduct an inquiry, Shelar said.Mumbai Fire Brigade, however, refuted Siddique’s claim about a shortage of water tankers and lack of equipment and trained staff.A senior fire brigade official said there were 20 water tankers at the spot.The fire brigade used all possible equipment, and the staff was well-trained to handle it, he added.Due to the thick smoke, they were forced to use 88 breathtaking apparatuses and it was difficult to enter the mall due to the heat, he said.He also cited some eyewitnesses as stating that the fire erupted at 1.30 am, but the fire brigade was called at 3.58 am.”When we were alerted, the fire had spread and smoke had clogged the entire mall,” he said, adding there was combustible material inside including wooden partitions, rubber, shoes, purses, clothes and cardboard.The mall’s internal fire-fighting system did not work as power went off and sprinklers did not operate, he said.Fire brigade chief Ambulgekar told PTI that the mall was full of combustible material and there was no easy access.Partitions obstructed firefighting and fire and smoke spread from one shop to another due to mesh shutters, making the situation difficult.”We are going to conduct a departmental enquiry,” Ambulgekar added.
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