Kamala Mills blaze: Three top civic officials guilty, says BMC chief

The internal inquiry was headed by additional municipal commissioner Vijay Singhal, who submitted his report to civic chief Ajoy Mehta on Wednesday.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has held three senior civic officials responsible for not conducting proper checks at two Kamala Mills restaurants, which caught fire in December 2017.

The 2017 fire at the Kamala Mills eateries killed 14 people. (Anshuman Poyrekar/HT Photo)

Fourteen people were killed in the tragedy.

The BMC named two assistant municipal commissioners and one health official in its report on the probe into the fire at the eateries in Lower Parel.

The internal inquiry was headed by additional municipal commissioner Vijay Singhal, who submitted his report to civic chief Ajoy Mehta on Wednesday.

The assistant municipal commissioners were ward officers of the G-south ward (Lower Parel). “The ward officers have been found guilty of lack of, or not carrying out, supervision. Supervision of ward-level activities is the primary responsibility of a ward officer,” Mehta said. “The health officer has been found guilty on various counts,” he said.

“We will decide the action against them after they respond to the notices we have sent to them,” Mehta said. Earlier, the BMC indicted nine other junior officers.

The ward officers named in the report are Prashant Sapkale, who was assistant commissioner of the G south ward when the fire broke out, and Bhagyashree Kapse, the ward officer when the restaurants, Mojo Bistro and 1Above, initially asked for permissions. The health officer named in the report is Satish Badgire. The report said Sapkale did not take action against illegalities in the restaurants. Both Mojo Bistro and 1Above had been served notices before the fire. The report also said the ward officer did not check if the restaurants complied with the conditions of no-objection certificate issued by the Mumbai fire brigade.

Kapse, the report said, issued an eating house license to 1Above despite its structural irregularities. The restaurant’s structure did not match the approved building plan. The report also said Kapse did not act against the restaurants despite illegalities in the structures. While the charges against Sapkale and Kapse have not been proven, the departmental inquiry said the officers were “guilty” of poor or no supervision of their ward. The BMC did not spell out the punishment the officers likely face. This will be decided after the officers are given a hearing. The BMC has sent show-cause notices to all three officers, explaining the charges against them. Punishment in such cases usually include lower pay, stopping a raises, suspension or even dismissal. After the Kamala Mills fire, an internal departmental inquiry probed the roles of 12 officers, including the five officers suspended by Mehta a day after the fire took place. In all, nine junior officers of the 12, from the health, fire and administrative departments, were found guilty in a report submitted in November. The inquiry report on the roles of the three top officers was pending till now.