Early this year a stampede at Elphinstone station took the lives of many innocent commuters and after a stretch of concern and discussion, we let other news stories take our attention. Stories like the death of a good doctor drowning in a manhole that we all agreed was a gruesome way to die. Another gruesome way to die is asphyxiation, and that is just how 14 people succumbed to their death this past Thursday night.
When a fire engulfed a building at Kamala Mills on Friday night, 14 young people died not due to burns but instead covered in soot, stuffed in washrooms, choked to their death. Among the deceased was 28-year-old Khushboo Bhansali who had celebrated her birthday earlier that night.
An illegal structure, questionable permissions and no fire escapes can be a recipe for disaster- but how would the victims have known that they are entering a death zone?
There are many things that come to mind- the proprietors of 1Above should be definitely held accountable, as should the people who gave out permissions for the bar to function, same for the nexus of fire inspectors and politicians involved. All valid points, but take a minute to consider how many illegal structures inhabit our city that we all frequent? Salons, restaurants, offices, shops built layer upon layer with stolen electricity in makeshift structures- is our entire city not a fire hazard?
Maybe some people will take this incident and shame partygoers, maybe others will pin it on greedy proprietors, and perhaps others will write it off, as ‘what has to happen will happen.’ But the truth remains that the proprietors Kripesh and Jigar Sanghavi are responsible for the deaths of 14 people and the injury caused to 50 others. Kamala mills continue to be a hot spot for people just looking to have a night out after a long week of work and in a city where people don’t have a lot to do for recreation, going out for a drink cannot be a death sentence.
Chief Minister Fadnavis visited the site of destruction and ‘offered his thoughts’ to the families of the victims via Twitter. He also promised to launch an enquiry into the matter, but sadly enquiry doesn’t reverse death.
In the past four months over 32 lives have been lost due to fires in Mumbai, and that is just from the statistics that have been reported. The dozens of shanties and slums that inhabit acres upon acres with questionable wiring and plumbing are a raging fire waiting to happen, but to tackle that problem is a feat that all our political parties combined couldn’t take on.
The fire that started just after midnight was only brought to a complete stop at 6:30 in the morning, by which time too many lives had been lost. The pain and damage caused to the families and friends of the victims can’t really be understood or reversed. Whether it is the mayor, CM, ruling party, the opposition party, the FDA of the state or any other regulatory body that is individually or collectively responsible, as citizens we have to accept that there will always be negligence in our civic bodies. Maybe the only way to protect ourselves is to assume responsibility on our own because from Elphinstone to Kamala mills, each unfortunate incident has been one that was caused due to negligence and could have been avoided had our regulatory bodies prioritized safety.
Perhaps when we go to restaurants we should ask the wait staff to read us their license and permissions along with the specials, when we go to bars we should ask the bartenders if they serve Absolute or Grey Goose, but only pay for the drink if there is a fire escape; and when it comes to doing our part as citizens for the government, perhaps we too can get away with offering only our thoughts via Twitter.
