Bhandup mall blaze: A fire exit that turned into a dumping ground

When the fire broke out inside Dreams Mall late on Thursday night the emergency fire exit at the rear of the building was of no use for the firefighters thanks to heaps of garbage dumped over the yearsldquoWe could not make use of the rear fire exit as the place was not accessible due to a lot of waste dumped there We moved all the patients to safety through the fire laddersrdquo said an employee from Vikhroli fire station who had been to the spotResidents of Dreams Tower the entrance of which faces this fire exit said they lodged numerous complaints with the mall occupants and the local civic ward office but no one did anything to clear the garbagePoor maintenancePoonam B a resident of Dreams building 1 said ldquoWe made numerous complaints about the poor maintenance and upkeep of the mallrsquos surrounding The number of occupants in the mall gradually reduced but the few outlet owners who tried to keep the mall operational started collecting money for basic housekeeping However that too didnrsquot last long Slowly the exit turned into a garbage dumping yard as it was a convenient spot for the mall occupants to dump their wasterdquo She added that the parking area in the basement is also not safeldquoI ran a kindergarten with over 100 toddlers in the mall for nearly five years but had to shut it down due to the pandemic For the past few years it was not properly maintained by the developers whose office was also within the mallrdquo she addedResidents on the lower floors of the more than 20storey Dream building 1 which has four wings are the worst affected ldquoOur society wrote several letters to the civic authorities and even the mall occupants but our pleas fell on deaf ears We have seen the food court staff throw waste in the backyard but it stopped after the theatre was closed and also due to COVID19 lockdown But the housekeeping staff at the mall continued to dump waste hererdquo said Binu Geevarghese chairman of Dreams building number 1A hideout for rodentsBinu added ldquoCurrently the entire fire staircase area is filled with dry waste consisting of mostly inflammable carton boxes papers files plastic containers etc The place has become a hideout for rodents and a breeding spot for mosquitoes No concrete steps were ever taken on our complaints to the local BMC ward office The fire incident is unfortunate but itrsquos an eyeopener and now the authorities should clear up the entire waste from the backyard of the mall Also the road between the mall and the building is used as illegal parking by four wheelers due to which the fire engines and emergency vehicles could not enter the premises to attend the fire call on Thursday nightrdquoRitu G a resident of Neptune Living Point which is near the mall said ldquoIn the seven years that I have lived here I visited this mall only twice I always found it to be dirty especially at the parking lot in the basement A disaster of this magnitude was feared alwaysrdquo