Nagpur Fire Safety Audit Reveals Shocking Flaws in Mixed-Use Buildings

thenewsdirt
2 days ago
6 min read

A citywide fire safety audit in Nagpur demonstrated that mixed-use buildings represent a severe threat to urban residents.

These structures, combining residential flats above commercial establishments, have become primary fire hazards across the city. Recent blazes have turned deadly, exposing the scale of safety violations embedded within these buildings. The audit findings reveal systemic failures in Vidarbha's urban safety infrastructure. Multiple incidents within months highlight how the absence of basic fire safety measures creates conditions where fires spread rapidly and evacuations become chaotic.

The audit examined 390 mixed-occupancy buildings across Nagpur. Of these, 186 lacked essential firefighting equipment, including alarms, extinguishers, hydrants, and emergency exits.

A further 139 structures were declared completely unsafe for habitation or commercial operation. This means nearly forty-eight percent of the city's mixed-use buildings failed to meet fundamental fire safety standards.

A broader inspection across 4,601 buildings in various categories revealed far more widespread problems. Across all building types, 1,123 structures lack basic fire safety measures, while 1,616 have been declared unsafe due to severe violations.

Power and water supply have been disconnected to 1,187 structures for non-compliance, yet many continue to operate despite these actions.

Welding Ignition Kills Two in Wedding Supplies Godown

The Jai Kamal Complex fire in Mahal brought the risks of mixed-use buildings into sharp focus. The complex, a ground-plus-four structure located near Gandhi Gate, housed wedding decoration shops on the ground floor.

These shops dealt in string lights, halogen bulbs, and firecrackers. The godowns where these highly flammable materials were stored occupied the first floor.

On the afternoon of 14 June 2025, welding work began in the first-floor godown of NK Light House. A spark from the welding work ignited the stored materials. The fire spread rapidly through the firecrackers and decorative items housed in the space.

The blaze proved deadly within minutes. The thick smoke that filled the building caused suffocation. Girish Murlidhar Khatri, aged 35 and owner of NK Light House, died from smoke inhalation along with Vitthal Dhote, aged 25, who worked at the establishment.

A third person, Gunvant Dinkar Nagpurkar, aged 28, who had been performing the welding work, collapsed from the smoke and was carried to the hospital in critical condition with severe burns. Four fire tenders arrived at the scene and managed to bring the fire under control after nearly two hours of fighting the blaze.

The fire caused property damage estimated at around 10 lakh rupees, though swift rescue operations saved goods valued at approximately 7 crore rupees.

The building layout itself presented hazards that accelerated the fire's spread. The godowns on the first floor stored highly combustible materials without proper fire containment measures.

Residents in the building had reportedly complained to municipal authorities about the presence of firecracker shops in the residential structure, but no action had been taken before the fire occurred. Following the incident, police asked residents to vacate the building for safety reasons.

Reliance Fresh Mart Fire Reveals Blocked Exits and Faulty Systems

The Reliance Fresh Mart fire in Laxmi Nagar's Aath Rasta Chowk area presented a different set of safety violations. The nine-storey residential-cum-commercial building housed 24 flats, with 18 families occupying floors from the third level upwards.

The ground floor contained a Reliance Fresh outlet stocked with food grains, cosmetics, edible oil, and other daily essentials. On Diwali night in October 2025, around 9.20 pm, a fire broke out at the shop. The blaze engulfed the electrical installations and the stocked merchandise.

Firefighters encountered severe obstacles during the rescue and extinguishing operation. The basement fire exit was completely blocked with cartons, shelves, and curtains, making this evacuation route unusable. The sprinkler system in the basement was malfunctioning and failed to activate.

Firefighters were forced to enter through the main entrance using breathing apparatus and connected four hose lines to six motor pumps. Dense smoke filled the building as the fire raged for nearly 10 hours.

All residents were evacuated via the main staircases despite the dense smoke. Elderly residents had to be carried downstairs by personnel wearing breathing apparatus.

A resident and building secretary stated that the fire had erupted in the parking area, which contained multiple encroachments. An underground godown and vegetable storage facility had been constructed in the parking area.

This space had been a source of conflict among residents for years. The ground floor was heavily stocked with plastic and thermocol, which intensified the fire and complicated containment efforts.

Even 10 hours after the fire was extinguished, the basement remained filled with toxic fumes from the burning debris. Fortunately, no injuries were reported.

Property damage ran into several lakhs of rupees. The sprinkler system, despite being faulty, sent an automated message to the store's control centre in Mumbai, which then alerted the local store manager.

A residential-cum-commercial building in Dharampeth caught fire early on 26 October 2025. A restaurant operated on the ground and first floors while residential units occupied the upper floors.

The restaurant had been operating until around 3 am when the fire erupted at approximately 5 am. The fire control room received a distress call at 5.14 am. Two fire tenders were dispatched to the location.

The fire spread rapidly through the commercial floors. The space housed six to seven air conditioners, furniture, counters, gas cylinders, computers, and other materials. All of these were destroyed. Preliminary investigations attributed the fire to a short circuit.

According to fire officials, the restaurant was operating without proper fire compliance certification. Prior to the fire, the restaurant had experienced voltage fluctuations over several days, which may have contributed to the electrical failure.

Firefighters managed to fully extinguish the flames by 6.50 am. The property damage was estimated at 40 to 50 lakh rupees.

Structural Design Failures Across Multiple Districts

The pattern evident across recent fires extends to structural issues in older areas of Nagpur. Sitabuldi, Dharampeth, Dhantoli, and Laxmi Nagar show common characteristics.

In these neighbourhoods, commercial establishments have been added to buildings originally designed as residential structures.

Many of these conversions occurred without structural reinforcements or fire prevention upgrades. Electrical systems remain outdated in numerous buildings or have been illegally modified to support commercial appliances. Overloaded electrical circuits are widespread, significantly increasing the risk of short circuits and resulting fires.

Safety equipment across these mixed-use buildings is frequently either absent or non-functional. Escape routes are regularly blocked by storage items, merchandise, or unauthorised modifications. In many structures, the basic layout of mixed-use buildings creates inherent dangers. Ground floor shops or restaurants sit directly beneath residential flats where families sleep. This arrangement means fires originating in commercial spaces can quickly spread to residential areas with multiple occupants.

On the same night as the Dharampeth restaurant fire, a scrap factory situated on Old Kamptee Road also caught fire around 8.15 pm. A fire tender from Kalamna fire station was dispatched immediately. Firefighters battled the blaze until 12.44 am. The fire destroyed paper scraps and other flammable materials estimated at 80 lakh rupees. The timely response saved goods valued at approximately 1 crore rupees. The exact cause of the fire remained under investigation.

In another incident, a dairy shop near the TV Tower in Seminary Hills was gutted at around 5 am. Three refrigerators, furniture, and cash worth 2.5 lakh rupees were destroyed. Firefighters from the Civil Lines Fire Station managed to douse the flames within an hour. Officials estimated total losses at around 20 lakh rupees. The fire was suspected to have been caused by an electrical short circuit.

These incidents across different areas and building types demonstrate that the fire safety crisis extends beyond mixed-use structures. Electrical failures repeatedly emerge as a cause. Short circuits initiated by overloaded wiring, faulty installations, or voltage fluctuations have ignited multiple fires.

Storage of flammable materials in inappropriate spaces has accelerated fire spread. Blocked escape routes and faulty safety systems have prevented effective evacuations.

The absence of firefighting equipment in many buildings has left residents vulnerable when fires occur.

With nearly half of Nagpur's mixed-occupancy buildings violating fire safety norms, combined with widespread violations across thousands of other structures in Vidarbha's urban centre, the conditions for catastrophic incidents remain embedded in the city's building stock.