Minor fire breaks out in Shah Rukh Khan's residence

A minor fire broke out in Bollywood star Shahrukh Khan's beach-facing bungalow 'Mannat' located in suburban Bandra West on November 21, after a short circuit, fire officials said.

The short circuit, which occurred in a bathroom's exhaust fan, set off the bungalow's fire alarm, the officials said.

The blaze was quickly brought under control after alert security guards called up the fire brigade, which rushed two fire engines to the spot.

More: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/minor-fire-breaks-out-in-shah-rukh-khan-s-residence/1198208/

One dead, 800 shanties gutted in Cuff Parade fire

One person was killed and a few others injured after a massive fire broke out in a slum pocket in south Mumbai’s Cuff Parade area on Thursday morning, leaving over 800 shanties gutted.

The deceased could not be identified until going to the press.

The fire erupted in Ganesh Murthy area near Ambedkar Nagar slum, behind BEST’s Cuff Parade bus depot at around 11am. While the exact cause could not be ascertained, the fire was reportedly started by a series of cylinder explosions.

“Repeated blasts were heard when the fire erupted. Given the chaos around, we could not tell what exactly caused the blaze. But the presence LPG cylinders and the direction of the wind, toward land, made the fire spread over a huge area, gutting the shanties completely,” said a fire official engaged in the rescue operation.

It didn’t take too long for the blaze to spread through the heavily congested slum, which is built on marshy land.

To stop the fire from spreading further, several slum dwellers used their presence of mind and took their LPG cylinders with them while escaping. “At least 500 people must have left their homes with the cylinders. If they hadn’t, the fire would have been much bigger and would have killed more people,” said Gopal Rathod, a local resident.

Meanwhile, the civic body claimed to have arranged for alternate shelter for the residents at a nearby municipal school. Apart from this, food and water supply too was made available.

“We can’t look into the irregularities such as why the slums have been allowed to come up on mangroves. The district collector’s office and the MMRDA will look into it. Our job was to rescue the people. We made shelter and food arrangements after the collector requested us to do so,” a civic official said.

At least 16 fire engines, nine jumbo water tankers and three ambulances were pressed into service. “We are recording the statements of witnesses. It appears that around 10 to 12 cylinders exploded in the fire, resulting in further damage. We are in the process of registering an incident report,” said senior inspector Sharad Barde of the Cuffe Parade police station.

Meanwhile, in a separate incident, a fire broke out in temporary huts constructed for laborers of an under-construction building on Salt Pan Road in Wadala on Thursday morning. However, no casualties have been reported.

Brave firemen
Fire engines had to be stationed around 1,000 feet away from the spot as with its many narrow lanes, it was difficult to access, informed fire officials. “The inaccessibility of the area, sea wind and continuous explosions posed a great threat to the rescue operation,” a fire official said.

Meanwhile, chief minister Prithviraj Chavan paid a visit to the slum on Thursday night. He said the government would conduct an inquiry into the incident and compensate the victims and their kin through the chief minister’s fund.

More: http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report-one-dead-800-shanties-gutted-in-cuff-parade-fire-1922914

Minor fire in store room of Satish Dhawan Space Centre

A minor fire, which broke out in the store room at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, some 100 km from here, has been doused off, sources said today.

The "minor fire" in a small store room, which was spotted around 5 AM yesterday was put out later, ISRO sources said.

The store room was being managed by a private company PremierExplosives Limited (PEL) in the SDSC campus, they said.

The blaze has not caused any damage to the ISRO property.

"There is no injury to anyone. The things in the store room mainly electrical and electronic equipment belonged to the private company," an ISRO official said.

More: http://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/minor-fire-in-store-room-of-satish-dhawan-space-centre-113111500476_1.html

Fire in Mumbai building spread through cable network, say officials

Fire officials and police said that the blaze in Mumbai building which killed four people, was first noticed around 3 a.m. this morning, and could have started in the electric meter cable box before spreading through the rest of the cable network.

The fire was put out at around 6:30 a.m., and everyone from the building has been evacuated. The injured have been admitted to the Rajawadi Hospital and other medical institutions.

The building was a slum redevelopment structure, according to local authorities.

At least four people were feared dead and eight others injured after a seven-storey building caught fire in the Mumbai suburb of Vikhroli early on Monday morning.

An elderly couple, their son and grandson perished in the fire.

Most victims were asleep when the fire broke out in the seven-storey Kailash Apartments in Vikhroli's Siddharth Nagar around 3.15 a.m., said a BMC Disaster Control official.

The deceased have been identified as Gautam Shalivan, 55, his wife Poornima, 50, son Vishal, 32, and grandson Ayush, 10.

Four people in nearby flats too were injured in the blaze and have been admitted to Sion Hospital.


Read more at:http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/mumbai-building-fire-spread-through-cable-network-officials/1/322563.html

Four killed, eight injured in Mumbai building fire

Four persons were killed and eight others got injured when a fire broke out in a seven-storey building in suburban Vikhroli early today, officials said.

Fire brigade sources said the fire broke out in the building located in Siddharthanagar area this morning.

It was a residential building and the victims were sleeping when the blaze broke out, they said.

The cause of the blaze is yet to be ascertained, they said.

According to TV reports, fire started in the electric meter cable box and spread through the cable network. Everyone has been evacuated from the building and the injured have been taken to hospital, according to authorities.

More: http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/mumbai/four-killed-eight-injured-in-mumbai-building-fire/article1-1149657.aspx

Flat gutted in Kilpauk fire, Chennai

A major fire broke out in a 10-storey apartment complex on Ormes Road, Kilpauk on Sunday morning. It took nearly an hour-and-a-half for fire fighters to put out the blaze, suspected to have been caused by an electrical short-circuit in an apartment that was gutted.

Over 30 families were evacuated to safety, thanks to a timely alert by some residents. The complex, named Prince Apartments, has 36 flats and around 200 residents live there.

Around 1.40 p.m., white smoke started billowing out of a fifth floor apartment belonging to Ashok Kumar Lahotiya. After inspection of the flat, firemen said that live electrical equipment could have caused the accident. The fire broke out when the Lohatiyas had left for lunch.

B.J. Dhanaraj (83), who lives in an independent house adjacent to the apartment complex, said that he smelled smoke before he saw the blaze. “I peeped out of my room and saw thick white smoke coming out of the fifth floor flat and an AC machine on a window was in flames. I shouted out to my son-in-law John who immediately called the fire control room,” he said.

Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Services (TNFRS) sources said the fire alert call on the accident was received at 1.56 p.m. and firemen with seven fire tenders from Kilpauk, Vepery, Egmore, Triplicane, Esplanade and Vyasarpadi fire stations were rushed to the spot.

Meanwhile, the fire spread from the fifth floor flat to apartments on the two floors above and thick black smoke emerged. Electronic equipment burnt with load noise and a burning window AC attacked to the fifth floor came crashing to the ground.

Some firemen climbed atop the water tank of Dhanaraj’s house and sprayed water into the raging blaze while the rest took positions on the apartment complex. Another fire tender mounted with a 150 feet skylift was rushed to the spot from the Kilpauk fire station. Residents had to frantically push cars in the apartment complex to make way for the tender.

The firemen managed to extinguish the blaze following a battle that lasted till 3.30 p.m. No one was injured as the residents got out of the building within minutes of the fire beginning. The fifth floor flat was completely damaged in the fire, while the sixth and the seventh floors were partially burnt.

The loss suffered is yet to be ascertained, TNFRS sources added.

Kashmir's civilians caught in the crossfire

Residents on each side of the Line of Control endure shelling near their homes almost daily.

Fatehpur Thakiala, Pakistan-administered Kashmir - When the shells started to fall, Muhammad Nadeem had nowhere to hide.

"As soon as the shelling started, my family would flee down the mountain… but I have a very weak heart, I can't leave this place," says the 65-year-old farmer, a resident of the remote village of Tarkundi, in Pakistan-administered Kashmir. Tarkundi, located about 115km east of the Pakistani capital Islamabad, is right on the 740km-long Line of Control (LoC), the de-facto border between Indian- and Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

"A shell could still fall at any time," he told Al Jazeera, standing in his maize fields, about 300m from the LoC. "Our homes are made of mud and wood - they could be destroyed any day."

Tarkundi is in Nakyal sector, which has been at the centre of recent shelling between the two nuclear-armed neighbours, sparked by an August 6 attack on Indian troops which killed five soldiers in Poonch district. India blamed Pakistan for the attack, a charge Pakistan denies, and, since then, there has been a daily exchange of mainly mortar and small arms fire between the two armies across the LoC. Both countries claim Kashmir in its entirety, while Kashmiri separatists, both armed and political, demand that a 1949 UN resolution calling for a plebiscite on Kashmir's fate be implemented.  

The shelling, which violates a 2003 ceasefire agreement between the two countries, has been hitting military border posts and civilians alike, on either side of the border.

"We were stuck inside our house for 72 hours straight [August 24-26] - without food, water or supplies - because of intense shelling. We were cut off," says Dr Muhammad Baseer Sarwar, another resident of Tarkundi.

"The explosions would make our ears ring - we thought we were going to die," said the 42-year-old, explaining how he and the other 11 members of his family took shelter in a small basement room, venturing outside to fetch water during lulls in the shelling.

After the dust settled, Sarwar returned upstairs to find that a mortar shell had landed in one of the home's bedrooms, destroying trunks, beds and clothes. Thankfully, he says, no-one was upstairs when it hit.

"When you hear the shelling start, of course you get scared," says Riasatullah, a 24-year-old whose home was hit, while showing Al Jazeera an unexploded shell that still lies in his family's maize fields.

The situation is similar across the LoC, in the village of Charunda, in Uri sector of Indian-administered Kashmir.

"When the two sides start firing on each other, they don't see who will get killed. They only fire," says 36-year-old Abdul Rashid, whose village came under fire in January.

Juma Khatana, 52, another villager from Charunda, says those who live along the LoC "are stranded between the two countries".

"We always live on a razor's edge," said Khatana. "We are not rich people and we can't migrate or buy land in the city. We have to live here forever."

In all, at least five civilians have been killed since the latest violence began, with at least two military personnel (both Pakistani) also reported to have died, according to AJK officials and the Pakistani military. Dozens more, including several Indian and Pakistani soldiers, have been injured. More than 3,000 civilians fled the Pakistan-administered side of the LoC - which is more densely populated than the Indian-administered side - due to the recent violence, with schools shut for more than a week during the most intense shelling. Farmers have been unable to tend to their crops, they say, and residents say they live a life of constant fear, as mortar fire continues on a daily basis.

This is the human detritus created when there is friction between these two nuclear-armed neighbours: thousands on either side of the LoC are displaced, their lives disrupted and the calm of this stunningly beautiful region - referred to locally as "heaven on earth" - destroyed.

"There is still danger here, we are still scared," says Muhammad Aslam, a 55-year-old former non-commissioned officer in the Pakistan army and a resident of Tarkundi. As he speaks, the muffled sound of distant low-calibre mortar fire reverberates through the valley.

Shaky dialogue process

Newly elected Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif placed a high priority on normalising relations with India during his election campaign, making it part of his economic platform to broaden trade ties with the regional economic giant.

As such, Sharif has said that he will be discussing the Kashmir issue with Manmohan Singh, his counterpart, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly later this month.

"For the effective pursuit of our socioeconomic agenda, good relations with all our neighbours are very essential and a priority for my government," Sharif said during a recent state visit to Turkey. "We are keen to have a comprehensive dialogue with India for the resolution of all the issues including the issue of Jammu and Kashmir."

Those talks, however, will take place in an atmosphere of both political distrust, and a shaky, if not shattered, ceasefire along the LoC.

"This latest flare-up along the Line of Control is actually not new," says Ejaz Haider, an Islamabad-based political and security analyst, citing several similar instances since 2007. "The LoC is not quiet anymore, especially in certain places… and in mountainous terrain it’s all about jockeying for a [tactical] advantage."

The Line of Control is no longer quiet, say residents 

On August 6, five Indian soldiers were killed in what armed Kashmiri separatists in Muzaffarabad told Al Jazeera was not a Pakistani military operation. Haider says that it occurred after four civilians were arrested by the Indian military close to the LoC - and killed for being "terrorists".

"Officially we say that [Pakistan] did not [kill the Indian soldiers], but it could well be that it was decided that it was time to give them a taste of their own medicine," he said.

'Not this kind of peace'

In Nakyal, local officials say residents are fully behind the Pakistani army, and blame India for the recent violence. Asked whether he advocates for peace to authorities in Islamabad, Nakyal Assistant Commissioner Chaudhry Muhammad Ayub replied: "We will not accept a situation where we do not fire back. If they fire upon us, we should fire back at them. Everyone of this area feels this way."

Haider says that the lack of a clear policy directive on a Kashmiri peace or negotiations process has created a situation where "the momentum of developments at the tactical theatre level" on the LoC begins to dictate the tenor of the Pakistan-India relationship.

"In theory, if the states were to actually get to a point where they say we are really serious about resolving these disputes, you'll see an effect on the situation at the LoC," he says. He also warned, however, that the relationship between the state policy and tactical theatre levels is "dialectical", and that each influences the other.

Residents also want greater clarity, calling for Islamabad to take a firm line, one way or another.

Addressing himself to parliamentarians in the Pakistani federal capital, Dr Sarwar of Tarkundi, said: "You're sitting safe there in Islamabad. Let one shell fall outside your house and we’ll see how you react then...

"We are ready for war as well [as peace], but if there is war, it should be open. I think there should be peace [between the two countries], but not this kind of 'peace', where the people of both sides of the Line of Control are having their homes shelled every day."

Additional reporting By Muhammad Baba Omar

Follow Asad Hashim on Twitter: @AsadHashim

Source: http://www.aljazeera.com