3 godowns gutted in Kurla

Sawant added that though eight fire engines, six water tankers and one high pressure pump van were immediately pressed into action to extinguish the fire, the narrow lanes and bylanes made it slightly difficult for the fire tenders to reach the spot. Till as late as 7 pm, the firemen were still busy with the `cooling process’ inside one of the affected godowns, which belongs to M/s Trimurti Traders.

The Deputy Chief Fire Officer D S Mulye, who was personally inspecting the entire operation at the site, expressed the view that what made the situation dangerous was that the godowns are lined close to each other.

Apparently the fire brigade receives at least one emergency call from the area in a year. On the condition of anonymity, some of the neighbouring traders who were not affected by today’s fire wryly commented: “It has almost become a way for us to ring in the new year.”In fact the divisional fire officer, Sawant added that if such fires are started by unscrupulous elements in order to gain insurance money, then it should be brought to the notice of higher authorities.“In the future we may also request the insurance companies not to pay up the money in such fire incidents if any foul play is detected,” Sawant told Express Newsline.

Though the cause of today’s fire is still not known, one of the affected traders, Hitendra Kalyanji Maru, said that property worth Rs eight to ten lakh is feared to have perished in the fire.Maru, who is with the M/s Trimurti Traders further added that their godown is authorised and has been in existence for the past 25 years. “We have an insurance cover of around Rs 10 lakh from United India Insurance company,” he said.