NDRF personnel during a rescue operation after a fire broke out at the Link Square Mall, in the suburban Bandra area of Mumbai, on Tuesday.
Credit: PTI Photo
Mumbai: Over 100 shops and showrooms were gutted following a massive fire at the Link Square Mall in the Linking Road area of Bandra in Mumbai, which broke out on Tuesday.
No casualties were reported.
The fire broke out around 0400 hrs.
At the time of going to Press, officials of the Mumbai Police, Mumbai Fire Brigade, BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation and National Disaster Response Force were at the spot.
The fire was reported as a Level-I fire at 0417 hrs, which was upgraded to Level-II at 0428 hrs, Level-III at 0449 hrs and ultimately to Level-IV at 0630 hrs - looking at the severity of the fire and the difficult fire-fighting operations.
The fire was initially noticed at the showroom of Croma, which subsequently spread to other places.
Thick smoke could be seen billowing out from several kilometres away.
Aerial visuals were also captured from flights.
Former MLA Zeeshan Siddiqui, who is now with the Ajit Pawar-led NCP, has criticised the fire brigade's complacency in handling the situation.
"There was a spark in an electronics showroom in the basement... The fire department has failed to control the fire... It could have easily been controlled initially, but the fire officers were ill-equipped," Siddique said.
Mumbai North Central MP and Mumbai Congress President Prof Varsha Gaikwad slammed the Maharashtra government and the BMC and requested Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to step in.
“The truth is, most of Mumbai’s malls and theatres are death traps. I once again urge the Chief Minister to step in and order a fresh fire safety audit of all public buildings, malls, and theatres. There must be strict penalties for violations—no more token notices,” Prof Gaikwad said.
“Over 100 shops, showrooms, and commercial units were gutted in the Link Square Mall fire in Bandra (West) today, resulting in substantial property loss. Who will take responsibility for this? This is the second major mall fire in Mumbai within a month—the first at Phoenix Marketcity in Kurla on April 4, and now this. While it is fortunate that there were no injuries or loss of life in either incident, why do our authorities continue to fight with fire? Was the Bandra mall equipped to handle a fire? Was it compliant with all fire safety norms? When was it last audited for fire safety? These are critical questions that the authorities must answer,” she asked.
The fire originated from the basement and then smoke logged everywhere in the building.
At least 13 fire engines, nine jumbo water tankers, two breathing apparatus vans, one rescue van, and one quick response vehicle were deployed. Additionally, a 108 emergency Ambulance service was also on standby. Fire-fighting robots too were used.