State declares SIT to probe Appa Pada fire

Mumbai: The Maharashtra government on Wednesday announced a special investigation team (SIT) to find out if there was any “ill-intention” behind Monday’s massive fire, which gutted nearly 2,000-3,000 hutments in Appa Pada area of Malad East

Mumbai: The Maharashtra government on Wednesday announced a special investigation team (SIT) to find out if there was any “ill-intention” behind Monday’s massive fire, which gutted nearly 2,000-3,000 hutments in Appa Pada area of Malad East.

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Meanwhile, Mumbai’s guardian minister Mangal Prabhat Lodha ordered for a survey to be conducted by the Tehsil office to assess the losses and the number of people affected by Monday’s fire. “The survey will be ready in a day, after which we will decide on further relief measures,” said Lodha.

Announcing the SIT in the state assembly on Wednesday, deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis also assured to rehabilitate those who have lost everything in the fire and are forced to live under the open sky.

“We will form a SIT to investigate if there is any ill intention behind Monday’s incident. It will also find out how three fire incidents happened in a period of just one month,” said Fadnavis.

He added that the state government would also try to rehabilitate those who have lost their homes.

Samajwadi Party MLA Abu Asim Azmi had raised the issue and demanded an investigation into the fire incident. He said that there have been three fire incidents in the last one month, which indicate malicious intentions of some people and thus the incident needs to be investigated.

Azmi said that the victims of the fire incident have nothing to eat or wear and require immediate assistance from the government.

The blaze erupted on Monday evening and engulfed 2,000 to 3,000 hutments rendering nearly 2,000 families homeless. One person was killed in the incident.