Mumbai Hotel Fire News: Day after fire kills three, Hotel Galaxy’s water & power cut, may lose licence | Mumbai News – Times of India

MUMBAI: A day after three persons died in a blaze, the fire brigade served notice on Hotel Galaxy in Santacruz on Monday to immediately comply with fire safety measures. “Water and electricity have been disconnected and will not be restored till they comply,” said chief fire officer Ravindra Ambulgekar.
Based on the fire department’s report, the H-East ward can cancel the licence of the hotel, which had been issued a notice in November 2022 for not having the mandatory fire compliance certificate. A young NRI couple and a Gujarat businessman died in Sunday’s blaze.
Fire dept notice shows hotel didn’t act even 9 months after BMC warning
Santacruz’s Hotel Galaxy, where a young NRI couple who were to wed soon and a Gujarat businessman died in Sunday’s blaze, has been issued a notice by the fire brigade for flouting norms. The police have registered a case of accidental death.
On Monday evening, the bodies of Rupal Vekaria, 25, and her fiance Kishan Halai, 28, both from Kenya, were taken to Rampar village in Bhuj, Gujarat, for final rites, which are expected on Tuesday. Sources said the autopsy at the civic-run R N Cooper Hospital established both died of burn injuries and suffocation. Vekaria had suffered 80% burns and Halai almost 70%. The autopsy of the third victim, Kantilal Vara, 50, couldn’t be performed as his family members were yet to reach the city.
The fire brigade’s notice under the Maharashtra Fire Prevention and Life Safety Measures Act follows another notice issued last year by the H-East ward office after a routine inspection found the hotel did not have the mandatory fire compliance certificate.
“The ward had given the hotel time to obtain the certificate. As it did not respond to the notice, the ward had filed a case against it in the court at Dindoshi earlier this year. It is the responsibility of the fire department to carry out checks about fire safety compliance,” said a BMC official.
H-East ward officer Swapnaja Shirsagar did not respond to calls and messages of TOI seeking a comment.
A fire brigade official said: “This building was constructed in 1966. The fire rules then did not mandate fire safety measures for buildings lower than 24m. It was later that the DCPR and fire safety rules changed, and several fire safety measures were mandated for buildings. They may not have installed the firefighting equipment mandated in the new rules. The hotel will now be asked to comply.”
A Vakola police officer said action will be initiated based on the investigation report. The viscera report and blood samples of Vekaria and Halai have been preserved for further analysis.
The families of the couple are originally from Bhuj, said Bharat Karani, a Vile Parle businessman who volunteered to help the families, and are now settled in Kenya. “Kishan and Rupal were engaged and were planning to get married soon after reaching Nairobi, where they have been staying for many years with families. Kishan, Rupal and their families came to India nearly a month ago to attend the wedding of Kishan’s younger brother in the village. The newly-married couple along with Kishan’s parents had left for Kenya a week back,” a PTI report from Bhuj quoted Suresh Kara, sarpanch of Rampar village, as saying. Vekaria’s mother Manjula and sister Alpa were among nine persons who managed to escape the fire with injuries.
(With inputs by Sumitra Debroy & V Narayan)