Mantralaya fire could have been averted. Here's why

A day after a massive blaze gutted top floors of the Maharashtra secretariat in Mumbai, an RTI activist on Friday said the mishap could have been averted had the government implemented suggestions in a fire safety audit report in 2008. “Police cases should be filed against officials of the Public Works Department and General Administrative Department for negligence of fire safety audit norms,” Athak Seva Sangh chairman and RTI activist Anil Galgali has said in a letter to Mumbai Police Commissioner Arup Patnaik. “The fire safety audit was done in 2008 and a report was submitted to the state government in September 2008,” he said. [caption id=“attachment_354888” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“The report mentioned 32 potential hazards. Image:Firstpost.com”]  [/caption] The report mentioned 32 potential hazards such as civil and electrical defects, encroachment due to parking of vehicles in open space around the building, files and old records strewn on the floors, storage of scrap material on all floors and use of cylinders for cooking on some floors, Galgali said. The state government also ignored the fire brigade’s warning in 2008 and a reminder in 2010, according to the RTI activist. Chief Fire Officer SV Joshi declined to comment on the issue. PTI