Kamala Mills tragedy echoes in Parliament; Jaya Bachchan says it's a 'bhool bhulaiyaa', Shiv Sena MP demands judicial inquiry

NEW DELHI: The massive fire incident at Kamala Mills in Mumbai, in which 14 people were killed, echoed in the Parliament on Friday.

Shiv Sena MP Arvind Sawant on Friday demanded a judicial inquiry into the unfortunate incident which occurred in The Kamla Trade House, a posh business-cum-entertainment hub in Lower Parel area of south-central Mumbai.

Rajya Sabha MP Jaya Bachchan said Kamala Mills was like a 'bhool bhulaiyaa' with narrow lanes.

“I have been to Kamala Mills , it is like a bhool bhulaiaya, having narrow lanes. So obviously there has been negligence,” Jaya Bachchan said.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Kirit Somaiya attacked the Shiv Sena-controlled BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for lapses on its part which led to the fire and demanded a complete fire-audit of all buildings in the city immediately.

Most of the victims, who included 11 women, died of asphyxiation in the tragedy in Lower Parel area, police said. Some reports said among those dead is the woman who was celebrating her birthday but this could not be independently confirmed.

President Ram Nath Kovind, Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress president Rahul Gandhi and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis have expressed grief over the incident.

The fire broke out after 12.30 am at One Above Pub, located on the third floor of the four-story Trade House Building in Kamala Mills compound on Senapati Bapat Marg, a commercial hub of the city, a police official said.

The massive blaze engulfed the entire building in about 30 minutes and took several hours to be put out. The cause of the fire is not known.

Police have booked Hratesh Sanghvi, Jigar Sanghvi and Abhijeet Manka of C Grade Hospitality, which manages the pub, along with others, under various charges including cuplable homicide not amounting to murder.

They are also charged IPC sections 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) and 338 (causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others).

Two of those booked have been detained.

There are many major corporates, TV-radio-print media offices, more than three dozen high-end restaurants, pubs, etc, which also suffered damages in the blaze and their working was likely to be affected on Friday.

Yuva Sena president Aditya U Thackeray, one of the proponents to improve Mumbai nightlife, said implementation of fire safety norms were a must and BMC would come down hard on violators.