Kamala Mills fire: Out for dinner, three friends lose their wives

MUMBAI: Men from a Gujarati community thronged the Chandanwadi crematorium on Friday to attend a series of funerals. Three women from a single family—Manisha Shah (49), Parul Lakdawala (49), and Shefali Doshi (46) —had perished in the Kamala Mills fire and they were there to pay their respects. Four couples along with their children-—many of whom live abroad and were here for the holidays—visited 1Above on Thursday night for a family get-together. “Shefali, Manisha and Parul’s husbands are all related and also childhood friends,” said Shefali’s brother Anish Gandhi. All three women are homemakers and their husbands are businessmen. “The three women were also best of friends,” added Gandhi.

The youngsters left early to go to another nightclub while their parents stayed behind in the rooftop restaurant. Once the fire started, a part of the group went ahead from the exit near the washroom without realizing that the three women were left behind. Manisha, Parul and Shefali took refuge in the bathroom where they were later found dead. “Shefali’s husband has not been able to come to terms with the loss. Their son, the one who returned from the US, is just 21. The family is in total shock and disbelief,” said a relative.

Manisha Shah lived in Planet Godrej at Jacob Circle and the building’s WhatsApp group was flooded with condolence messages. “Our hearts break at the unbelievable sorrow and pain,” wrote one resident, while urging people to check fire exits and report the establishment if they are not operational. “From now on, every single place we go, we ask, ‘Where is your fire escape?’” In low voices, the mourners discussed the scale of the tragedy and how it could have been prevented if existing fire safety norms had been implemented.


“It’s a terrible tragedy,” said a family friend of the Shahs. Another wanted the civic body to be taken to task for negligence. At the funeral, people discussed how other establishments across the city are death traps and WhatsApped each other images of the burnt restaurant, which is now covered in soot and filled with debris.

There was also discussion on how a resort in Mahabaleshwar was sealed over a noise violation but the administration had failed to take cognizance of far more serious oversights in Mumbai establishments.