Latest news with #LinkSquare
Hindustan Times
2 days ago
- Hindustan Times
Link Square owner, agency face legal action for blaze
MUMBAI: The Mumbai Fire Brigade has initiated legal proceedings against the owner of Link Square mall, former MLA Zeeshan Siddique, and Indian Fire Safety System, a certifying agency, for the massive blaze that gutted the shopping complex in Bandra West on April 29. The move follows the submission of a comprehensive, final inquiry report on the blaze, to municipal commissioner Bhushan Gagrani, by chief fire officer (CFO) Ravindra Ambulgekar, on Wednesday. 'As per section 3 of Maharashtra Fire Prevention and Life Safety Measures Act, 2006, it is the responsibility of the owner owner/occupied to keep the fire safety system in the building operational, even though the said system was inoperative at the time of the incident. The said system was not functional in the fire that broke out. Therefore the fault lies mainly with Indian Fire Safety System appointed by Link Square Care Co Ltd. Hence, legal action is already initiated against both parties,' said a senior fire official. The report reveals serious failures in fire safety systems, a delayed emergency response, and critical design lapses in the shopping complex. According to the report, the fire began at 2:30am on April 29 on the lower ground floor, but was only reported to the fire brigade at 3:55am by security guards and workers. This 90-minute delay significantly worsened the situation, with fire calls escalating from Level 1 at 4:17 am to Level 4 by 6:25 am. According to the key findings in the report, fire safety systems were non-functional despite a compliance certificate issued in January 2025 by the contractor, Indian Fire Safety System. The mechanical ventilation system in the basement was non-operational, severely hindering smoke clearance. The building's glass facade lacked mandatory ventilation openings, trapping heat and smoke. The emergency exits were either blocked or inaccessible. Highly flammable materials, including electronics, garments and cosmetics were stored in dense clusters, accelerating the fire spread. Firefighters faced thick smoke, intense heat and poor visibility, making entry from all directions extremely difficult. BA (breathing apparatus) teams were repeatedly forced to withdraw due to dangerous conditions. Despite the deployment of over 10 water hose lines, and the involvement of senior fire officials, the fire escalated to the building's upper levels, severely damaging its structure. On May 2, a joint site inspection was carried out by the joint commissioner (vigilance) and senior officials from the fire and building departments of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). While no unauthorised construction was found and structural layouts matched approved plans, the fire exposed glaring lapses in safety maintenance and emergency preparedness. Aftab Siddique, a local civic activist from Linking Road, where the shopping complex is located, claimed, 'The number of affected units inside the complex is 390, not 210, as initially reported. Well-known restaurants like Tap and Global Fusion were completely destroyed. Each unit has suffered massive financial losses. Everything was reduced to ashes.' Despite repeated calls and messages, Zeeshan Siddique, former MLA and the owner of Link Square, was unavailable for comment.
Indian Express
29-04-2025
- Business
- Indian Express
Mall fire: ‘Came to know mall housing our shop was ablaze when a delivery boy told me'
It was around 7.30 am when a delivery boy delivered the sordid news to Jessica Tikyani, alongside her daily groceries. Explaining his delay in arrival, the delivery boy had pointed to the traffic sparked by a fire incident at a Linking road mall. 'When I enquired which mall he was talking about, he mentioned Link Square mall and we were shocked. Our family, my father, owns a garment store inside the building,' said Jessica, who later arrived at her spot to discover the mall housing their shop ablaze. Early Tuesday, a blaze erupted in the basement of the three-storey mall, which eventually engulfed the entire mall as the hours passed by. While some families like Jessica's are shop owners, nearly 80 – 90 per cent of the business operators at the establishment are tenants, for whom the shops was the only source of income. Link Square mall was established in 2009 by NCP leader and former Maharashtra minister, Baba Siddique in 2009. The mall is home to over 200 shops trading in clothes, shoes, watches, electronics as well as restaurants. While the two lower most basement floors house parking and the level one basement housed Croma, from where the blaze reportedly erupted. The other floors of the building were home to nearly 70 shops each while the third floor housed two restaurants. Hours after the blaze, the tenants as well as owners of shops arrived at the mall to enquire about the situation. 'It's not just a matter of these 200 shops which have been burnt but also a question of over thousands of families who were dependent on these shops. Each of these shops employed at least two to three men for operations. They would earn Rs 18,000 each month. What are they going to do now?,' said Tauseef Shaikh, who ran a garment shop inside the mall. Besides losing stock worth lakhs, Shaikh claimed that he also lost over Rs 7 lakh to the blaze. 'Hum toh ab samjho zero hogaye hai (We have come down to zero now), said Tauseef. Taswar Qureshi, who has been running one of the oldest shops of the malls, selling watches and perfumes, told The Indian Express, 'Even though I have been waiting here for over 10 hours, we still don't know whether our products are safe or gone in the fire. It's very difficult to gauge the extent of our loss we have potentially incurred.' Most business owners like Imran Shaikh have no insurance. 'The fire broke out inside a big electronic shop. Certainly, they have insurance and will be paid. But what about small middle class business operators like us, who have no insurance?' added Shaikh. Aftaab Khan and Salman Qureshi, who run a menswear shop on the first floor of the mall, said, 'We had stock worth Rs 25 lakh stored inside our small shop. We have been here for nearly 12 hours but we still have no answers,' said Salman. Business owners, politicians allege ineffective fire ops GK Singh, who manages the day to day affairs of the mall and was sleeping inside the mall on Tuesday morning, was among the first persons to learn about the fire. 'At first, we tried to douse the flames and smoke in the basement area ourselves but it didn't help at all. Then, we escaped and rang the managers and fire brigade,' he said. Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, NCP leader Zeeshan Siddique also alleged that the fire has spread owing to the negligence of the fire brigade. 'We have been present here since 4 am. There was a small spark in the basement at Croma. We made several requests to the Mumbai Fire Brigade to bring more equipment but even the existing machinery was not used properly,' Siddique told reporters. 'Initially, there wasn't much fire. We could see a lot of smoke but the flames seemed limited. The fire brigade should have something to contain the fire then and there. And then, all of a sudden, we saw the building go up in flames,' said Yunus Ansuri, a tenant of the building running a shoe shop, who alleged that he saw his own shop go up in flames around 11 am, hours after the fire was first reported. However, Ravindra Ambulgekar, chief fire officer (CFO) of the Mumbai Fire Brigade (MFB) denied the allegations, saying 'There was very intensive heat and dense smoke, making it difficult to determine the entry point. The mall was filled with many objects, further blocking the entry points of the structure.' According to Ambulegkar, the internal fire fighting system of the building was inoperative during the course of the fire fighting.
