Fire in Mumbai building: Owner told to repair fire-fighting system in 30 days

The fire-fighting equipment at the complex was non-functional, said fire brigade officials.

Three days after a major fire broke out at Marathon Towers, Worli, the fire brigade has sent a compliance notice to the owner, asking him to repair the building’s faulty fire-fighting system within 30 days.

The fire-fighting equipment at Marathon Towers, Worli, was non-functional, said fire brigade officials. (HT FILE PHOTO)

Though no one was hurt, it took firemen two hours to douse the flames at the complex, which also houses a 37 -storey residential tower. Firemen found it difficult to reach the place due to haphazard parking.

The fire-fighting equipment at the complex was non-functional, said fire brigade officials. Firemen found it difficult to control the fire — which was confined to the service duct and blazed between the 6th and 10th floor — in the glass-facade building on Tuesday.

The building’s riser pipes (vertical pipes) — which were connected to pressurised water sources by firemen — were not functional. “There were risers in the building. However, as they had not been maintained properly, we had to externally use water pipes to douse the fire. That delayed operations,” said KV Hivrale, deputy chief fire officer.

Owing to the low water pressure of the risers and the damaged fire fighting system, six water tankers were used.

This is the 42nd fire that occurred during Diwali this year, of which,18 were reported in the western suburbs, followed by 12 in the eastern suburbs and 12 in the island city.