Mumbai: Crystal Tower residents hope to have firefighting system in place

The residents of Crystal Tower in which four people died after a fire hope not to see the same day again. Some residents who have been living there are looking to have the fire fighting system working.

"The builder had put fire fighting system but they were not activated. The system as such is new because the building was ready just six years ago. We hope that they will get activated now," said Rajinder Kapoor, a resident of the building. Unlike the plush high-rise Beau Monde in Prabhadevi where the internal firefighting system saved the day for its occupants, that was not the case with Crystal Tower. The buildings, fire fighting system was not working and there was no audit that was done.

One of the main reason for building members not doing anything was that there was no society in place to take up issues of the building. "He is supposed to form the first society. That had not happened," said Nazir Shaikh another resident. For a society to be formed, the residents also needed an occupation certificate. "However, certain dues were not clear so that was not given," added Kapoor.

Residents said that once the society is formed, a number of things will be told to residents. These will include taking care of their flats, switching off gas in the night, and taking care of their own house so that there is no problem of short circuit. "Our society hopefully will be asking them to do that. If gas cylinders are not turned off and they start blasting, it becomes a problem," said Kapoor. Residents said that once the society is in place, it will take a call of audit and training people on how to tackle fire. "After the last one, we did know a thing or two on what to do when fire occurs," said Kapoor.