With a blaze gutting down two top floors of a posh commercial structure in Andheri (West) leading to the death of a fire-tender official, the very safety of high-rises in Mumbai are questioned.

 

Many prominent names in the city have their offices in the 21-storey Lotus Business Park in Andheri (West).  They are literally shaken that firemen couldn’t reach beyond the 17th floor in the beginning. They, however, managed to reach the top floors only with the help of a new snorkel that was brought in.

 

Film-maker Rakesh Roshan and his actor son superstar Hrithik own five floors of the building – 4, 5, 15, 16 and 17. Rakesh informed he had purchased the floors as an investment. “Thankfully, all of them were vacant. I really don’t know how much has been damaged in the fire, as the blaze was on the 21st floor and then it spread to another floor. All I can say is that it’s sheer bad luck,” he sighed.

 

Another tinsel-town celeb, Pooja Shetty, the daughter of director Manmohan Shetty, has her production house, Walkwater, on the 9th floor. Informing media persons, she said, “My office was not affected as the fire couldn’t reach there. However, the cracked glass panes spread from the building.”

 

They were uneasy over the safety of skyscrapers and questioned how many such structures follow fire safety norms. “We buy properties in these tall buildings and now I am feeling stupid about doing so,” Shetty said. Roshan added, “This are just 22 floors in this building and there are a number of taller buildings in the city. I wonder what will happen to them if something similar happens.”

 

The high-rise used to have a television channel, and currently has an animation studio on its 8th floor. A top business house also owns its office in it. Chef Sanjeev Kapoor, whose office is in the adjacent building, feels the firemen did an amazing job despite the constraints they had.