‘Anupamaa’ set gutted; probe on

Mumbai: A massive fire raged through and gutted the sets of a noted television serial ‘Anupamaa’ at the Dadasaheb Phalke Chitranagari, famed as Film City, in Goregaon. There were no casualties in the incident, officials said.

The conflagration was noticed around dawn, and quickly spread through the massive ground-plus-one-storey set along the Film City Road, in the vicinity of the Whistling Woods International.

Concerned over the series of fire incidents, the All Indian Cine Workers Association (AICWA) has demanded a high-level judicial probe into the incident and urged Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to order a comprehensive fire audit for every film set, studios and other shooting locales across Maharashtra.

The Mumbai Fire Brigade and other agencies were summoned for help and after battling it over four hours, the fire was finally extinguished.

The blaze was apparently triggered – the causes of which are being investigated – when the preparations for the days’ teleserial shoot were going on.

Eyewitnesses said that tongues of leaping flames and thick dark smoke from the 5,000-sq were visible from several kms away in the western suburbs around 5 am.

The BMC and MCB rushed four fire-tenders, six jumbo tankers, ambulances and fire-fighters who were helped by the set crew and workers. The fire was restricted to electricals, installations, plastic and metal, decorative materials, props and other shooting infrastructure

The fire which reduced the ‘Anupamaa’ serial set to ashes, was confined to electric wiring, electric installation, plastic materials, iron materials, decorative material, cameras, costumes, lighting system and studio equipment spread over the 5,000 sq ft area.

AICWA President Suresh S. Gupta called for filing a criminal FIR against the production house, the producers, the TV channels and the DPC Managing Director plus the Labour Commissioner for the incident.

“In case the shooting had commenced as per plans at 7 am, a catastrophic situation could have developed, potentially resulting in loss of lives. This (fire) is another tragic reminder of recurring blazes in Mumbai and its surrounding film studios,” pointed out Gupta.

Despite warnings and multiple fires on shooting sets, Gupta contended that owing to the blatant negligence of producers, production houses and other stakeholders consistently fail to implement even the most basic fire safety precaution that jeopardises the lives of thousands of workers daily.

The AICWA chief alleged that owing to the collusion between officials, producers are not compelled to adhere to the mandatory fire safety protocols, which result in such incidents - at least one major blaze is reported annually, causing human or material losses.

“We also demand that the investigation must explore whether the fire was deliberately set off by anyone to illegitimately claim insurance — a horrifying possibility that would mean risking lives for financial gain…,” asked Gupta.

He claimed that such incidents are often deliberately hushed up by producers and the Film City authorities to avoid a public backlash as well as legal consequences.