3 days after fire in Ghatkopar tower, residents live without water, electricity

Mumbai: Three days after a fire broke out on the ground floor of a seven-storey SRA building in Ghatkopar East due to a short circuit in the metre cabin, residents have been living without electricity and water supply.
Since September 14, the day of the incident, Balu Thosar, a sixth-floor resident, has been spending a minimum of ₹500 per day for water and food.
“A 15 litre water jar costs around ₹90. We need at least two such jars in our household of four. This is just for drinking. We haven’t had a decent shower since the incident and have been using the public toilet located around 300mts away which is neither comfortable for the women nor for the children,” said Balu whose plight doesn’t end here.
With dark rooms, living without electricity has several challenges. “We cannot use a mixer grinder, refrigerator and basic appliances to cook food and therefore we have been spending an additional ₹200 to ₹500 to order food,” said Balu.
On Saturday, a fire erupted at around 1:30am catching the nearly 90 residents of the D wing unaware, trapping them in the smoke. Around 250-300 residents live in the Shanti Sagar Police Cooperative Housing Society.
The fire struck the common electric duct running through the floors of the ground plus seven floored SRA building, requiring their rescue using an external ladder placed at windows. As the fire spread, the sleeping residents were awoken by smoke flooding into their homes from the passages. Thirteen people suffocated, though all were discharged from Rajawadi hospital, Ghatkopar. Between 80 to 90 persons were on different floors, stranded, unable to make their way out due to the choking smoke. The rest ran up to the terrace. Although a colony for police personnel, the wing was given to ordinary citizens on rent. The fire was extinguished by 2:06am.
Residents alleged that no authority has temporarily provided them with a mobile toilet or water tankers. Struggling for water supply, many have been borrowing water from the neighbouring wing of the building.
Rahim Sheikh, a resident of the first floor, has been managing her cooking with water from the adjacent wing. “But how many buckets can one carry in this building without a lift? There’s no light or fan. The swarm of mosquitoes doesn’t allow us to sleep. I can’t imagine how the residents of the sixth and seventh floors are coping when I’m facing so many difficulties staying on the first floor,” said Sheikh.
On Monday afternoon, residents were seen climbing the building stairs with water cans on their shoulders. They said they have been washing clothes in houses in the adjacent wings or at their relative’s place.
Ranjana Sonavle, another resident of the building said, “We are not from privileged backgrounds to spend money every day for food and water. How long can we live sustain without basic facilities? We really hope the authorities take note of how difficult things are here.”
The residents claimed a temporary metre has been installed to supply the electricity, but power is yet to be restored. “Fortunately, we were done with Ganesh visarjan prior to this incident,” added Sonavle.
Chandan Nikalje, secretary of Ramabai Ambedkar Magasavargiya Gruha Nirman Samstha, whose office is in the same building, said some residents sleep at a nearby Ganesh pandal for the night.
“There’s a standing fan at the pandal and it’s also safe. Some residents decided to stay over at their relative’s houses or go to their hometowns till water and power supply gets restored, while it’s been a struggle day or night for those with no choice,” said Nikalje.
Mahendra Kalyankar, CEO of SRA was unavailable for a comment.