Bhandup mall blaze: A fire exit that turned into a dumping ground

The trash-filled exit at the rear of the Dreams Mall building

When the fire broke out inside Dreams Mall late on Thursday night, the emergency fire exit at the rear of the building was of no use for the firefighters, thanks to heaps of garbage dumped over the years.

"We could not make use of the rear fire exit as the place was not accessible due to a lot of waste dumped there. We moved all the patients to safety through the fire ladders," said an employee from Vikhroli fire station who had been to the spot.

Residents of Dreams Tower, the entrance of which faces this fire exit, said they lodged numerous complaints with the mall occupants and the local civic ward office, but no one did anything to clear the garbage.

Poor maintenance

Poonam B, a resident of Dreams building 1, said, "We made numerous complaints about the poor maintenance and upkeep of the mall's surrounding. The number of occupants in the mall gradually reduced, but the few outlet owners who tried to keep the mall operational started collecting money for basic housekeeping. However, that too didn't last long. Slowly, the exit turned into a garbage dumping yard, as it was a convenient spot for the mall occupants to dump their waste." She added that the parking area in the basement is also not safe.

"I ran a kindergarten with over 100 toddlers in the mall for nearly five years, but had to shut it down due to the pandemic. For the past few years, it was not properly maintained by the developers, whose office was also within the mall," she added.

Residents on the lower floors of the more than 20-storey Dream building 1, which has four wings, are the worst affected. "Our society wrote several letters to the civic authorities and even the mall occupants but our pleas fell on deaf ears. We have seen the food court staff throw waste in the backyard, but it stopped after the theatre was closed and also due to COVID-19 lockdown. But the housekeeping staff at the mall continued to dump waste here," said Binu Geevarghese, chairman of Dreams building number 1.

A hideout for rodents

Binu added, "Currently, the entire fire staircase area is filled with dry waste, consisting of mostly inflammable carton boxes, papers, files, plastic containers, etc. The place has become a hideout for rodents, and a breeding spot for mosquitoes. No concrete steps were ever taken on our complaints to the local BMC ward office. The fire incident is unfortunate, but it's an eye-opener, and now the authorities should clear up the entire waste from the backyard of the mall. Also the road between the mall and the building is used as illegal parking by four wheelers, due to which the fire engines and emergency vehicles could not enter the premises to attend the fire call on Thursday night."

Ritu G, a resident of Neptune Living Point which is near the mall, said, "In the seven years that I have lived here, I visited this mall only twice. I always found it to be dirty, especially at the parking lot in the basement,. A disaster of this magnitude was feared always."