Minor boy killed, 2 hurt as fire breaks out in Kurar village slums

Kiran Dighavkar, the ward’s assistant municipal commissioner, said the plot on which the slum is located belongs to the Forest department. “The incident took place on forest land and the shanties were set up adjoining a wall along the Malad water reservoir. As the fire raged, five cylinders exploded and it is under probe if the flames intensified because of it,” he added.

In July 2019, a wall collapse in the Kurar village slums claimed 14 lives. Vinod Mishra, a former BJP corporator from the area, said during the BJP-Shiv Sena government in 2019, a survey was started for rehabilitating the slum dwellers in Aarey forest land. “After the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government came to power, Aarey was reserved as a forest land, so no development could take place. Unless and until there is a permanent solution for rehabilitating the slum-dwellers, they won’t relocate and staying here will only pose more risk to their lives,” Mishra said.

Meanwhile, another fire was reported in a two-storey commercial building at Narayan Nagar in Ghatkopar (West). The incident was reported around 2.30 pm on the first floor, where electrical wiring, wooden installations and combustible items like computer peripherals and thermocol fanned the flames.