A fortnight after a devastating blaze broke out in a building in Kalbadevi, Mumbai, it claimed its fourth and highest-ranked victim: Sunil Nesarikar, the chief fire officer of Mumbai’s fire department. News of his death came out on Sunday afternoon.
The devastating 8-hour blaze on May 9 had killed two senior fire officers and left two others – Nesarikar and his deputy Sudhir Amin –critically injured after a section of the building collapsed during firefighting operations. Station officer Mahendra Desai and assistant divisional fire officer SW Rane were crushed to death immediately and Amin, who suffered fourth-degree burns, succumbed to his injuries on May 14.
Nesarikar, who had ventured close to the burning building to assess why the fire wouldn't subside had been recuperating at the National Burns Centre in Airoli. But eventually he did not make it.
The Kalbadevi fire, which saw no civilian fatalities but took the lives of four senior fire officers on duty, has raised many questions about the efficiency of disaster management, the equipment available to the forces and the lack of fire safety in various urban structures. Most firefighters, however, are indignant about how public carelessness often compounds the dangers they face when responding to the call of duty.
A huge concern
Gokul Niwas, like scores of other buildings in the congested areas of Kalbadevi and Bhuleshwar in southern Mumbai, was predominantly a commercial building with several clothing shops and goldsmith workshops crammed into its small rooms. The stock of cloth and chemicals provided plenty of fuel for the fire to last for hours.
Fire department officers have claimed that Mumbai’s municipal corporation ought to have been prepared for this kind of an accident: in 2001, they had audited Kalbadevi and alerted the civic officials about a host of hazardous commercial activities that were unsuitable for old buildings in a congested area with narrow roads. The municipality has evidently been unable to crack down on such activities in the past 14 years, but experts point out that citizens are just as responsible, if not more.
“As firemen, we have to accept the challenges posed by traffic, congestion and a high population, but public apathy is a huge concern,” said P Rahangdale, a deputy chief fire officer who took charge of the force after Nesarikar and Amin were injured. “People in this city make illegal alterations to their buildings and stuff them with combustibles. Even with the best of equipment, we cannot help these things.”
Mumbai’s buildings are notorious for failing to do fire audits, and the consequences are evident in statistics: since 2009, the city has reported 21,379 cases of fire, which have claimed 1,481 lives and injured more than 5,000 people.
“When a new building is made, it is the corporation’s fault to make sure that a fire safety audit is done before the structure is licensed, but after that, annual audits are the responsibility of citizens,” said IC Sisodia, a disaster management expert and a former vigilance officer with Mumbai’s municipal corporation.
Curious onlookers
Rita Savla, founder of Radhee, a disaster management advocacy forum, points out another aspect of public apathy that fire fighters regularly have to deal with: curious bystanders.
“People have a very careless approach towards safety and emergencies," said Savla, who has known Nesarikar, the injured chief fire officer, for ten years. "Often, when there is a building collapse or fire, it takes a long time to just get curious onlookers out of the way so that fire trucks can reach the spot."
“The fact that the chief fire officer and other senior officers went right into the Kalbadevi site to inspect it reflects greatly on their bravery and leadership – they must be saluted,” said Savla. “But if they can be so brave, why can’t the public cooperate?”
Mumbai fire brigade chief Sunil Nesarikar succumbs to burn injuries, he was admitted after sustaining injuries in Kalbadevi fire @ibnlive
— Anubhav Khandelwal (@anubhavcnnibn) May 24, 2015The devastating 8-hour blaze on May 9 had killed two senior fire officers and left two others – Nesarikar and his deputy Sudhir Amin –critically injured after a section of the building collapsed during firefighting operations. Station officer Mahendra Desai and assistant divisional fire officer SW Rane were crushed to death immediately and Amin, who suffered fourth-degree burns, succumbed to his injuries on May 14.
Nesarikar, who had ventured close to the burning building to assess why the fire wouldn't subside had been recuperating at the National Burns Centre in Airoli. But eventually he did not make it.
Late chief fire officer Sunil Nesarikar
The Kalbadevi fire, which saw no civilian fatalities but took the lives of four senior fire officers on duty, has raised many questions about the efficiency of disaster management, the equipment available to the forces and the lack of fire safety in various urban structures. Most firefighters, however, are indignant about how public carelessness often compounds the dangers they face when responding to the call of duty.
A huge concern
Gokul Niwas, like scores of other buildings in the congested areas of Kalbadevi and Bhuleshwar in southern Mumbai, was predominantly a commercial building with several clothing shops and goldsmith workshops crammed into its small rooms. The stock of cloth and chemicals provided plenty of fuel for the fire to last for hours.
Fire department officers have claimed that Mumbai’s municipal corporation ought to have been prepared for this kind of an accident: in 2001, they had audited Kalbadevi and alerted the civic officials about a host of hazardous commercial activities that were unsuitable for old buildings in a congested area with narrow roads. The municipality has evidently been unable to crack down on such activities in the past 14 years, but experts point out that citizens are just as responsible, if not more.
“As firemen, we have to accept the challenges posed by traffic, congestion and a high population, but public apathy is a huge concern,” said P Rahangdale, a deputy chief fire officer who took charge of the force after Nesarikar and Amin were injured. “People in this city make illegal alterations to their buildings and stuff them with combustibles. Even with the best of equipment, we cannot help these things.”
Mumbai’s buildings are notorious for failing to do fire audits, and the consequences are evident in statistics: since 2009, the city has reported 21,379 cases of fire, which have claimed 1,481 lives and injured more than 5,000 people.
“When a new building is made, it is the corporation’s fault to make sure that a fire safety audit is done before the structure is licensed, but after that, annual audits are the responsibility of citizens,” said IC Sisodia, a disaster management expert and a former vigilance officer with Mumbai’s municipal corporation.
Curious onlookers
Rita Savla, founder of Radhee, a disaster management advocacy forum, points out another aspect of public apathy that fire fighters regularly have to deal with: curious bystanders.
“People have a very careless approach towards safety and emergencies," said Savla, who has known Nesarikar, the injured chief fire officer, for ten years. "Often, when there is a building collapse or fire, it takes a long time to just get curious onlookers out of the way so that fire trucks can reach the spot."
“The fact that the chief fire officer and other senior officers went right into the Kalbadevi site to inspect it reflects greatly on their bravery and leadership – they must be saluted,” said Savla. “But if they can be so brave, why can’t the public cooperate?”
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