Dharashiv/Mumbai, Nov 9 A trail of blazes marred Diwali celebrations in Maharashtra, leaving six members of a family dead due to suffocation in Dharashiv district and sparking nearly 140 fire incidents across Mumbai on Sunday night alone, officials said on Monday.
In the wake of the alarmingly high number of firecracker-induced blazes, the Mumbai Disaster Management Authority issued an order on Monday banning the use of aerial firecrackers across all public and private premises in the city till November 25.
In Dharashiv, a fire broke out shortly after midnight at a single-storey house-cum-shop in the Yedshi area.
Six members of the Karande family were asleep on the first floor of the structure, which housed a shop on the ground floor, when the blaze erupted, and they died due to suffocation, police said.
The fire intensified quickly as the shop also had plastic items and oil stock.
While the cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained, preliminary reports suggest it was caused by a ‘panati’ (small clay oil lamp or diya) lit in the premises, police said.
Meanwhile, in Mumbai, three major Level-II fires broke out at separate locations on Diwali night. While no casualties were reported, two women suffered injuries in firecracker-related incidents.
Firefighters took over nine hours to extinguish a major blaze at Haji Kasam Chawl on Dr Maheshwari Road in Dongri. Reported around 10 pm on Sunday, the fire engulfed several shops and huts before spreading to electrical wiring, furniture, LPG cylinders, chemical drums, and tarpaulin sheets. Fire crews brought it under control at 7.23 am on Monday.
Another Level-II fire was reported at a garage on Marol Military Road in Andheri at 10.51 pm on Sunday and was put out at 3.50 am on Monday after a five-hour operation.
The third blaze broke out at 11.56 pm at Skyline Vida, a 10-storey commercial building near Jolly Gymkhana in Vidyavihar. The fire spread across the 7th to 10th floors before being extinguished at 5.55 am on Monday.
According to data shared by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the city fire brigade received 142 calls on Sunday, of which 137 were about blazes caused by firecrackers. The single-day tally eclipsed previous Diwali tallies of 80 firecracker blazes in 2024 and 113 in 2025.
Following multiple fire incidents, the Mumbai Disaster Management Authority formally prohibited rockets and aerial firecrackers in all public and private spaces — including residential terraces, balconies, courtyards, and slum pockets — stating that stray fireworks pose threats in congested urban areas.
Mayor Ritu Tawde, in a video appeal, said that celebrations should not put one’s safety at risk and urged people to exercise caution while bursting firecrackers.
(PTI News)
