Deadly blaze in Andheri: Who allowed this illegal digging?

A 22yearold youth Aman Saroj succumbed to severe burns within 36 hours of a fire that erupted near SherePunjab Society in Andheri East The blaze was triggered by an alleged illegal excavation that damaged a Mahanagar Gas Limited MGL pipeline early on SundayAccording to MGL the pipeline was ruptured due to the impact of a JCB during unauthorised and uncontrolled digging causing a fire near SherePunjab Society close to the gurudwara at Pump House Andheri East The fire was doused by the fire brigade and MGLrsquos emergency teamAs per the civic disaster control cell Aman and Arvind Kumar Kaithal 21 who were passing by on a bike sustained 40ndash50 per cent burns Another victim auto driver Suresh Gupta 52 suffered 20 per cent burns and is receiving treatment at the civicrun Trauma Care Hospital in Jogeshwari Saroj succumbed to his injuries at the National Burns Centre in Airoli while Kaithal remains criticalSpeaking to midday Suresh Gupta said ldquoAfter finishing work for the day I was driving my rickshaw back home to Malpa Dongri When I reached the signal there was a huge explosion and I sustained burn injuries I couldnrsquot understand what had happenedThe spot where the fire erupted in Andheri East on Sunday PicsShadab KhanOur family doctor Shivam Pandey who was dining at a nearby restaurant also heard the explosion He spotted me injured and immediately rushed me to the Trauma Centre My entire family depends on me and my only source of incomemdashmy rickshawmdashwas completely charred in the fire I hope the authorities assist us with the necessary documents for claiming insurance and we also expect compensation from those responsible for the accidentrdquoIllegal digging blamedCivic road department officials stated that official road repair work had stopped at 7 pm on Saturday However an unauthorised individual was caught digging the road for a sewage network at midnight using a JCB Officials claim the police have arrested the person responsibleldquoFor road concreting we excavate up to 500ndash600 mm while utility lines are placed at least one metre below The unauthorised digging went beyond these limits damaging the gas pipelinerdquo an official explainedThe car and bike were charred in the incidentCalls for accountabilityAndheri East MLA Murji Patel has demanded compensation for the victims ldquoI have raised this issue in the state budget sessionrdquo he saidWhen midday visited the site on Monday it was evident that the fire was intense as even a traffic signal at the junction had meltedA shopkeeper from the area requesting anonymity said ldquoAround 1130 pm we closed our shop and went upstairs Around 1215ndash1230 am we heard a loud noise When we came down we saw flames bursting from the excavation site We ran for safety before the fire brigade arrived We later learned that three to four people were injuredrdquoMumbai Congress Social Media Coordinator Vinay Pandey who was passing by at the time also witnessed the blaze ldquoOne of the bikers was badly injured and unfortunately one later died during treatmentrdquo he saidThe intensity of the flames was so high that tarpaulin sheets on nearby shops and buildings shrank due to the heatLocal Shiv Sena Eknath Shinde faction leader Amit Matondkar demanded a thorough investigation ldquoHad MGL been informed this tragedy could have been avoidedrdquo he saidAmanrsquos relative Raysaheb Saroj said ldquoAman was on a bike with his friend when the fire erupted We were told they panicked and their bike stalled leading to severe burnsrdquoWhere was the securityAlthough the illegal excavation caused the fire MLA Murji Patel questioned why there was no security ldquoHow can anyone dig without BMCrsquos permission It is BMC and the contractorrsquos responsibility to monitor the site even at nightrdquo he said demanding an inquiry