Updated On: 16 June, 2025 08:27 AM IST | Mumbai | Ritika Gondhalekar
Though the families have received some relief through the court’s ruling, they believe many more lives are still at risk, as such illegal practices continue unchecked across Mumbai. “Advocate Pimenta also explained that HPCL’s Public Liability Insurance Policy covers all risks arising from the use of LPG supplied by its dealers

Nearly a decade after the October 2015 blaze, grieving families of the Hotel City Kinara fire victims demand strict action against illegal LPG supply networks they say caused the tragedy. Pics/Sayyed Sameer Abedi
Though the Bombay High Court recently directed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to pay Rs 50 lakh to each family who lost a loved one in the Hotel City Kinara fire that occurred in October 2015, the grieving parents are now fighting a larger battle. With the help of Advocate Godfrey Pimenta, the families have appealed to the Ministry of Petroleum to take strict action against gas agencies — specifically Laxmi Gas Agency — for illegally supplying LPG cylinders to roadside eateries.
“As per the charge sheet of the incident, the cylinder delivery person from Laxmi Gas Agency admitted he would deliver cylinders to Hotel City Kinara every two days. However, through an RTI, we discovered that City Kinara was never a direct HPCL customer. This clearly means the agency was supplying the cylinders in black,” Pimenta said.
Passers-by stand in front of restaurant to eat food bought from nearby eateries, turning once-busy eatery into eerie roadside pause point