The fire that engulfed the Sara-Sahara shopping complex and Manish Market on November 26, 2011 was due to “defective electrical circuit”, the Mumbai Fire Brigade’s report has stated.
The report, that was prepared on November 30, 2011, was not declared. The present findings were known only after a Right to Information (RTI) application was filed by activist Chetan Kothari. Until recently, short-circuit was believed to be the cause of the fire.
However, in its conclusion, the report stated, “Considering all the facts, circumstantial evidence, statements of witnesses and after elimination of the other probable cause of fire, the probable cause of fire is derived as ‘defective electrical circuit’. If any clinching evidence comes across in the future, it can be reviewed accordingly.”
The other probable causes that were looked into, but discarded, were spontaneous combustion, radiation, chemical reaction, static electricity, chimney fire, dust explosion, fire crackers, frictional sparks and sabotage.
The fire department report stated that by gathering evidence and talking to witnesses, it was able to detect that the reason why the fire spread was the overheating of bare wires in one of the shops.
Haroon Merchant, secretary of Manish Market, said, “The fire actually started from Sara or some other place and traveled towards Manish Market. In 1974, the kind of fire safety rules that are present now were not there. Now, we have made provisions for the same and the fire department is checking on them.”
The chief fire officer of the Mumbai fire brigade remained unavailable for comment.
