Fire at Minister Ganesh Naik's Pavangad bungalow in Churchgate; no one hurt, electrical fault suspected

A fire damaged the ground floor of Pavangad, the official residence of Maharashtra Forest Minister Ganesh Naik, in south Mumbai on Wednesday, November 11. No injuries were reported. The bungalow is part of the MLA quarters complex in Churchgate, across from the Mantralaya bus stop.

Records of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation show that the Mumbai Fire Brigade was alerted at 11.43 am. At 11.55 am the blaze was classed as a Level-1 fire, a category usually managed with the first set of firefighting resources sent out. Four fire engines and roughly 40 personnel went to the site. The flames were declared extinguished at 1.26 pm, and crews carried on with cooling and containment work until about 2.30 pm.

The fire stayed within about 4,000 sq ft of the ground floor. Wiring and electrical fittings, a split air conditioner, items from the kitchen, office files and papers, steel and wooden furniture, a refrigerator and the false ceiling were all damaged. An early account from fire officials had put the fire in an air conditioner unit, but the later assessment points more broadly to an electrical fault.

As word of the fire spread, panic gripped the area. Smoke filled the surroundings and was said to be slowing the first efforts to douse the flames, while police also reached the spot and a large crowd of onlookers gathered. Early reports left it unclear who had been inside. A fire brigade official later said the house was empty of residents. "There was no one there except a security guard. This was not a rescue operation, we only put out the fire," the official said.

On the cause, another official said: "Prima facie it looks like an electrical fire. The picture will become clear only after a detailed investigation." Mr Naik had not commented on the incident at the time of the early reports.

Other fires were also reported across the Mumbai region. On Tuesday night, huts caught fire at Pratiksha Nagar near Mala Garden in Wadala; the number was put at two to four. The police control room told the fire brigade at 10.51 pm, and the call was logged as Level-1 at 11.15 pm. The fire brigade, police, BEST, the 108 ambulance service and BMC ward staff responded. No injuries were reported so far.

Early on Tuesday in Bhiwandi, a scrap warehouse in Lohoti Compound burned, and the flames reached a neighbouring powerloom factory. Residents and workers carried out machines and raw cloth, but the factory was reduced to ashes. The blaze was reported at 2.03 am and was brought under control after a hard fight. In Talavali, Navi Mumbai, a timber warehouse caught fire around 2 pm, and it was controlled after about ninety minutes. No casualties were reported in either case.