Mumbai: The spate of Diwali firecracker mishaps in the city peaked on Nov 9. Monday stretched the resources of Mumbai fire brigade as it received 166 fire calls, of which 144 were attributed to firecrackers. Mumbai’s firemen attended to a staggering 499 fire calls within a five-day period from Nov 6-10, of which 333, or 67%, were blamed on fireworks. This period accounted for two cracker-related deaths and eight injuries.From Nov 5 to 10, Mumbai police registered 29 FIRs against 40 people for bursting crackers and launching rockets on roads in violation of a Bombay High Court order of Sept 2026. This season, crackers were linked to 200 of 282 fire accidents, a sharp increase from 80 in 2024 and 113 in 2025.Across the metropolitan region, there were over 1,000 fires linked to Diwali celebrations—due to crackers or even diyas—during Nov 6-10. While Mumbai recorded the maximum such fires, Kalyan-Dombivli reported 118 and Mira-Bhayander 160. Navi Mumbai, Vasai-Virar and Thane witnessed around 90 fires each.Two major fires in Malwani and Pratiksha Nagar occurred on Nov 9-10. On Monday, a 16-year-old youth, Shahnawaz Niyaz Khan, was killed after a blaze engulfed a firecracker shop in Malvani. Six labourers’ huts were destroyed in a blaze in Pratiksha Nagar, Sion, even as a firefighter sustained injuries in the incident.Chief fire officer Ravindra Ambulgekar said, “Both Malwani and Pratiksha Nagar blazes were triggered by firecrackers. Each of the calls we attended focused on ensuring that the blaze did not spread.”In the Malad inferno, residents informed TOI that Shahnawaz had entered the shop with his friends to buy crackers when a rocket allegedly fell on it from outside, triggering a series of explosions. Three of his friends managed to run out, but the youth was trapped. The shopkeeper, unaware that he was still inside, rolled down the shutter and fled the site, said Congress MLA Aslam Shaikh.Another mishap struck a row of labourers’ hutments in Pratiksha Nagar, Sion, Tuesday. Local BJP corporator Shilpa Keluskar said that six huts caught fire. “Multiple explosions took place as LPG cylinders blasted. One fireman was injured,” she said.TV actor Divyanka Tripathi posted a tribute to lift operator Dhanpat Mahto who died in a fatal firecracker blaze in her society, Runwal Elegante in Andheri Lokhandwala, on Nov 6. Saying ‘Dhanpat Uncle’ wasn’t just a guard but part of their everyday lives, she shared a video of him at the gate welcoming her newborn babies. Tripathi said when her boys are older, she will tell them that a kind man had welcomed them.In Vasai-Virar and Mira-Bhayandar, 48 fires were reported Nov 9-10, mostly at garbage dumps. “Most were minor, and our teams doused them quickly. No casualties occurred,” said Mira-Bhayandar Municipal Corporation chief fire officer Prakash Borade.Thane police registered 162 cases against people for violating firecracker norms between Nov 8 and 10. Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) reported 28 fires on Nov 9 and 10, taking the Diwali mishap toll to 90, a disaster management official said. In Ulhasnagar, a major fire broke out at a showroom in Camp 3 on Tuesday, damaging a large showroom.Meanwhile, the deployment of Mumbai fire brigade vehicles to Thane on Nov 8 to assist in firefighting operations allegedly at a high-rise society housing deputy CM Eknath Shinde’s relatives led to a political controversy. Responding to criticism by opposition leader Kishori Pednekar, Amey Ghole, Shiv Sena (Shinde) group leader in BMC, defended the move, arguing that saving lives during emergencies should take precedence over municipal boundaries.(Inputs by Richa Pinto, V Narayan, Suhas Birhade, B B Nayak, Pradeep Gupta & Nishikant Karlikar)
