As many as 49,391 incidents of fire have killed more than 600 people and caused damage to property worth ₹110.42 crore in Mumbai in the last 10 years, the State government informed the Assembly on Monday.
The information was part of a written reply by the Urban Development Department (UDD), headed by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, to a calling attention motion raised by MLAs over repeated fires in Bandra’s Nargis Dutt slum.
“Of the total fire incidents, 33,946 were due to defective electric supply, 1,111 due to gas leakage and 14,329 because of other reasons. The fires claimed the lives of 609 civilians and seven fire brigade officials. Property worth ₹110.42 crore was lost in these incidents,” it said.
The reply said 3,151 of the fires occurred in slums. “The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation is setting up 17 small fire brigade centres to tackle blazes in slums and busy areas. Of these, 11 have been activated. Seventeen rapid action vehicles and three mini fire engines have been purchased. Besides, the corporation is in the middle of a tender process to purchase fire bikes, and has trained more than 5,000 fire volunteers,” it said.
The reply said a police inquiry into the fires at Nargis Dutt slum in Bandra had found no illegal immigrants from Bangladesh living there. “We are ready to conduct any inquiry if needed to find out whether people are living illegally,” Minister of State for Urban Development Ranjit Patil said.
It said the recent fire in the slum was a result of faulty electric supply, and 204 families affected by it have received financial help of ₹5,000 per family.
