Mumbai: Fire wipes out 1,000 houses in Malad slum

A Fire engulfed nearly 1000 houses at Anand Nagar slum in Appa pada Malad East and killed one person on Monday officials said Rescue operations were underway until late night Firefighters struggled to reach the forestland where the blaze erupted due to narrow lanesThe body was sent to HBT Trauma Care Centre and a search operation is underway to find any injured and missing people said officialsWitnesses told midday that slum dwellers heard multiple cylinder blasts late afternoon and ran out of their houses which are located close to a forestland The fire brigade contained the blaze by 7 pm and started cooling operationsldquoThe fire was confined to 800 to 1000 huts over 10000 square metres Around 15 to 20 cylinder explosions had occurredrdquo said a fire officialA man tries to douse the fire at Anand Nagar slum in Appa pada Malad East on MondayBapu Santish Borade a resident of Sainath chawl committee Ambedkar Nagar Appa pada said ldquoI was in my office when I got a call from my wife about the fire Only my wife and son were at home and I told them to immediately leave the house and go to a safe place My wife with the help of our neighbours removed the gas cylinder and vacated the area All our belongings have been destroyed in the firerdquoAlso Read In Photos Fire breaks out at Malads slum area in MumbaiStruggle navigatingThe fire was reported around 445 pm but the fire brigade faced difficulty to reach the spot due to small lanes and the geography of the area Officials declared it a levelthree fire at 515 pm and more fire engines were rushed to the spotmidday also saw the challenges the police and fire brigade faced while navigating the traffic as the road off Western Express Highway leading to Appa pada is narrow The highway became even more crowded in the eveningBapu Santish Borade said he lost all his belongings but his wife and son are safe PicsSameer MarkandeldquoMost of the houses that were gutted in the fire were built many years ago on private land and few huts were on forestlandrdquo said Vinod Mishra former corporator from MaladSGNP savedA police constable requesting anonymity told midday ldquoThe fire brigade and the police made every effort to prevent the fire from spreading to the forest or else there would have been a huge loss to the forest cover in Sanjay Gandhi National Park SGNPrdquoldquoWe learnt about the fire when we saw plumes of smoke emanating from the slum pocket below We also heard cylinders exploding Thankfully the fire brigade controlled the fire or else it would have reached our tribal hamlet where more than 900 of us liverdquo said Shailesh Page a tribal resident from the tribal hamlet inside SGNP Kiran Dighavkar assistant commissioner of P North ward said ldquoThere was an electric substation It is still unclear whether the fire started due to the explosion of cylinders or sparks at the substation or from something else The fire is under control and we have put up three big tents on open spaces where residents can stay for a couple of daysrdquoThere was a fire just 500 metres away at Jamrishi Nagar slum on the forestland and a 12yearold boy had died last month20No of approximate cylinder explosions