Flames that tore through Shri Yogiraj Suyog Palace — home to the Reliance Smart Super Store at Aath Rasta Square — on October 21 did more than devour property worth ₹50–60 lakh. They ignited long-smouldering anger over civic negligence, corporate carelessness, and a system that notices violations only after tragedy strikes.
Residents allege the supermarket had illegally converted the building’s mandatory parking area into a ground-floor godown — crammed with toilet cleaners, edible oils, and other flammable materials. What should’ve been an open parking space became a fire trap, choking escape routes and feeding the inferno when it erupted.
“Had the parking remained open as per the approved plan, the fire would never have spread so fast,” said 68-year-old resident Anil Dwarkadas Gandhi, who has lodged a formal complaint. “We warned the mall, we warned the NMC — letters, visits, calls — nothing worked. For them, our warnings were just background noise.”
Experts say the violations fall under Sections 52 and 53 of the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act, 1966, and breach UDCPR norms that mandate clear open spaces in residential buildings. The absence of a fire-safety audit since 2021 violates the National Building Code (Part 4), which requires annual inspections and safe storage of inflammables.
After media exposure, NMC’s Laxminagar Zone officials finally stirred — promising show-cause notices to the mall and the building owners. But for residents, it’s déjà vu. “The NMC only wakes up after disaster,” Gandhi said bitterly. “Had they acted earlier, this would’ve been a small inspection report, not a headline about our homes on fire.”
The Bajaj Nagar Police have since registered an offence for negligence and endangering human life. Structural and fire-safety audits are now underway — a move many say has arrived years too late, after the city’s complacency quite literally went up in smoke.
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