MII fire: BMC spent over Rs 8 lakh to clear 315 MT debris

It took Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) over Rs 8 lakh to clear 315 metric tonnes of debris that was the result of massive blaze at an 'Make in India' event last month, reply to an RTI query has revealed.
The civic body also said that it has sought the total expenditure incurred for removal of the gutted material from CII, the organiser of the event.
RTI activist Anil Galgali had sought information from the civic body about clearing of the site after the fire that broke out during the 'Maharashtra Rajani', a cultural show held at Girgaum chowpatty on February 14, as part of the week-long MII programme.

"After the fire incident, the BMC had to clean almost 315 metric tonnes of debris and damaged material, for which it incurred Rs 8,06,952," Assistant Engineer of Solid Waste Management Department (D ward) of BMC informed this to Galgali's query.
The reply further says that the work was executed by D ward staff as well as people roped in from non-government agencies.
The debris was cleaned up by the next morning with the help of 10 JCB machines, 39 dumpers (that made total 67 trips), two compactors, 198 labour staff and 80 supervisory staff in two shifts, it said.

"The cost incurred for the clean-up has been intimated to the organisers of the show, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and they have been asked to pay up. But we are yet to get a response from the organisers," the reply added.

The BMC had dashed off this demand notice to Regional Director of the CII, Western Region, on February 22 and directed the industry body to reimburse the expenses.
Meanwhile, when contacted, a CII spokesperson said that it
has received a letter from the municipal authorities and that it is talking to other stakeholders before replying to BMC in this regard.
Galgali said he has also written a letter to Municipal Commissioner Ajoy Mehta seeking action against the organisers if they fail to pay up the fees.
"I have written a letter to Mehta demanding that if the organisers fail to pay up the cost of clearing the debris, then a police complaint be lodged against them as the BMC has helped them during testing times and this kind of behaviour now is not expected from them," he said.

An investigation into the fire had found that the event organiser flouted the safety norms by keeping LPG cylinders under the stage and cited electric spark coming into contact with combustible material under the stage as likely cause of the blaze.