Mumbai residential buildings reported 33% of city fire incidents in 2023

The Mumbai Fire Brigade has made it mandatory for high-rises above 70 metres (25-30 floors) to install fire evacuation lifts that will help firefighters during emergency situations.

Mumbai real estate market's residential high-rises may have touched the sky, but they remain vulnerable to fire incidents, accounting for about one-third of them in the city in 2023, according to data from the Mumbai Fire Brigade.

Experts and officials said the majority of fire incidents were reported in high-rise buildings, while instances of fires in low-rise buildings were fewer.

According to the data, 4,721 fire calls were reported in Mumbai from January 2023 to the first week of December 2023, of which 1,547 (32.7 percent) were from residential buildings. As many as 33 people were killed and about 300 injured in fire incidents in Mumbai last year.

The trend was similar in 2022, when 1,489 (33.7 percent) of 4,417 fire calls were from residential buildings, and in 2021, when 1,340 (32.9 percent) of 4,065 fire calls were from residential buildings, according to the data.

Why residential buildings?

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According to the fire brigade, 70 to 80 percent of the fires in Mumbai were due to electrical short-circuits. In many high-rise fires, the damage would be even more extensive because the firefighting equipment was not functional due to poor maintenance.

In a case in 2021, a fire broke out at One Avighna Park, a high-rise in central Mumbai, due to a short-circuit in a video doorbell and later spread.

Deepak Monga, a fire safety and evacuation expert, said there are generally two to three reasons for fire incidents in high-rise residential buildings.

"The fire in high-rises is more compared to low-rises… The reason is because consumption has increased drastically in high-rises compared to a low-rise building. We have modern equipment, more electrical points, but overall behaviour towards safety needs to change," Monga said.

According to him, while fire drills are carried out and fire safety equipment is installed, in many high-rises it is found after a fire that the outlet that supplies water for firefighting purposes is blocked.

“This is poor maintenance. And for our low-rise buildings, the probability of fire is low, but when there is a fire, the presence and maintenance of fire safety equipment is a big challenge. Hence, going further, fire evacuation lifts in new buildings are the way ahead for having minimal damage and loss of life during fires. Further, electrical audits and maintenance of fire safety equipment will be helpful in assisting firefighters during fire emergencies," Monga added.

What the authorities are doing

The Mumbai Fire Brigade has made it mandatory for high-rises above 70 metres (25-30 floors) to install fire evacuation lifts that will help firefighters during emergency situations.

“Having a fire evacuation lift will assist firefighters in moving with more ease vertically through a building and rapid evacuation of occupants in a fire emergency in high-rises,” Monga said. “Nowadays, many developers in low-rises also prefer it as it gives them a benefit in the Floor Space Index (FSI).”

FSI is the ratio of the floors that can be constructed on a plot of land.

Also read: Fire evacuation lifts for high-rises above 22 floors made mandatory in Maharashtra

After a recent fire in a high-rise in Mumbai, Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde said the state government is working on revised lift guidelines for safer infrastructure. They will include fire evacuation lift rules and related specifications.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and the fire brigade are working on making electrical audits mandatory in residential buildings. Short-circuits are generally caused by defects or faulty wiring.

Most number of tall buildings

Almost 77 percent of tall buildings in India – those higher than 150 metres – are located in Mumbai. Considering the limited land available in the city, Mumbai will likely continue leading the construction of tall buildings in the country.

Also read: Mumbai has 77% of India’s tall buildings; Hyderabad ranks second: report

India has about 250 tall buildings that are completed or under construction. Mumbai is followed by Hyderabad, where planners are keen to grow vertically, according to a report by real estate consultancy CBRE India. Kolkata ranks third, Noida fourth, followed by Gurugram, Bengaluru and Chennai, with a 1 percent share each.