Make in India: Massive fire at event in Mumbai, no casualties reported so far

A massive fire broke out on Sunday evening during a cultural function, Maharashtra Rajani which was a cultural event organized by the Maharashtra government as part of the Make In India event.

The fire completely gutted the stage, fortunately there were no casualties reported as people were alerted immediately and evacuated. The fire was doused within an hour.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis about the fire and what caused it, said government officials.

The programme was attended by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, Governor Vidyasagar Rao and Shiv Sena president Udhav Thackeray.

The remaining four-day cultural event has been cancelled. Fadnavis has ordered an enquiry into the incident. He himself stayed at the location till late monitoring the situation and ensuring everyone was evacuated safely.

Still, the incident will cause major embarrassment to the Maharashtra government which has for the first time organised an event of such proportion for PM Narendra Modi's Make In India campaign.

Interestingly the fire occurred just an hour after Fadnavis, Thackeray and others left the stage, in fact half an hour later after Fadnavis’s speech,actor Amitabh Bachchan and Hema Malini performed on the stage. In fact when the fire broke out at the left of the stage under it, a group of women artistes were performing lavani on the stage. As those seated below saw the fire, they anxiously asked the dancers to move away from the stage, who finally ran after realizing the gravity of the situation. In a matter of minutes thanks to the sea breeze the whole stage was engulfed in a raging inferno.

Fadnavis who had implored delegates to visit the Maharashtra Rajani programme then stayed put till the fire was doused, which took an hour. Government officials said that preliminary cause was a short circuit that took place below the stage.

Fadnavis while speaking to reporters said, “ It was an unfortunate incident,I have asked for a high level inquiry to fix the responsibility the cause. We will do it with a proper authority. The one good thing is that there was no injury to anyone.”said Fadnavis.

He added that a fire audit was done four days before the event and also disaster preparedness was done which also helped. “The fire was brought in to control soon, it is too early too speculate on the causes.”said the CM. He said that there would be no change in the Make in India programme.

However the Maharashtra government was pilloried by the opposition, the NCP claimed that the fire had embarrassed the state in front of the whole world.

Hundreds of local and international companies including India's biggest conglomerates, ministers of states and centres and foreign delegates are scheduled the attend the event. The event has been organised by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion and the Confederation of Indian Industry, apart from the Maharashtra state government.

Sources in the Sena, said that the Saamna the Sena mouth piece is going to go hammer and tongs at the BJP for the fire.