Residents wait for power, water to be restored

The people are now waiting to move back into their homes, but have been unable to do so, as the power and water connections are yet to be restored. Till Sunday evening, officials had managed to get the utilities up and running for flats till the eighth floor. Work on the other floors was still ongoing.

Families say it will take at least another 8 days for the cleaning work at Mont Blanc to be completed. Pic/Datta Kumbhar

Speaking to MiD DAY, one of the residents of the 25th floor of the building said, "We have moved into our son's home near Breach Candy, as the cleaning work in Mont Blanc is still in progress. It won't be possible for us to go back until all of it is done. We guess it will take around eight more days."

When contacted, AN Varma, chief fire officer, said, "We finished cleaning work on Sunday afternoon. The high-rise had all its firefighting system in place. This worked in its favour, to an extent." Meanwhile the society security has been warned against allowing mediapersons to enter the premises.

The fire broke out around 7.15 pm on Friday, on the 12th floor, in flat number 1201, which was under renovation. The flat had an LPG cylinder, which exploded, and the resultant flames burned the approaching firefighters.

Among the seven killed in the fire, were film producer Dinesh Gandhi (65) and his wife Devyani (65). Dinesh is said to have financed projects like Tezaab, Hum, Bezubaan and Humse Badhkar Kaun. The couple were planning to host their son Bunty's wedding at Jaipur early next year.

A friend of Devyani had been taking a walk with her on the evening of the incident. "I heard a noise and thought there was something amiss. But Devyani said it was probably because of the renovation work in 1201. We didn't realise the seriousness of the situation. Devyani entered the building and went up in the lift, when the flames engulfed the elevator," recalled the woman.u00a0