Kamala Mills fire: Mumbai civic body forms new 3-member panel

The new panel, comprising of retired engineers, will probe the alleged floor space index (FSI) violation

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) last week appointed a three-member panel to assist the fact-finding committee investigating the Kamala Mills fire. The new panel, comprising of retired engineers, will probe the alleged floor space index (FSI) violation and other misuse of land at Kamala Mills.

A massive fire at a rooftop restaurant at Kamala Mills, on December 29, claimed 14 lives. (HT Photo)

The three-member panel comprises retired director VN Kale, retired deputy chief engineer Shriniwas Joshi and retired assistant engineer Chiplunkar from development planning department.

“There is a massive paperwork that needs to be reviewed. It was later decided that expertise of retired engineers will prove beneficial for the fact-finding committee,” said municipal commissioner Ajoy Mehta.

The fact finding committee, headed by chief engineer Vinod Chithore, has officials from BMC’s department of industries and a representative from state IT department. The committee was formed last month.

In addition to the probe initiated by the BMC, the state also announced a judicial probe last week.

“The decision to merge both the probes will be taken once we receive terms of reference,” said Mehta.

Kamala Mills, a designated IT park, was granted extra FSI of 1.33. Under the IT policy, extra FSI is granted on the condition that 80% of the built up area is to be used for IT-related purposes.

The ongoing probe will scrutinise commercial setups at Kamala Mills, including media houses, corporate offices, finance centres, pubs and restaurants.