Fire tragedy in Bhiwandi; impact on print

Six days ago, on 27 December, eight men were charred to death; in addition many received 30 per cent burns when a fire broke out in a godown of wooden logs at Madvi compound, Bhiwandi at 2:30 am. There were 11 people sleeping inside the godown at the timber mart. According to the authorities, the cause of the fire is not known yet.

Bhiwandi is of special importance to the print industry. The town, 40 kms from Central Mumbai has been known as the Manchester of India for the large number of powerlooms which sprung into existence post the 1984 textile strike in Mumbai. Today the city is an industrial hub for the pharma and logistics sector. Top companies like Maxx, Vistaprint, Amazon, etc. have their godowns or operations in the city.

Increasingly, companies are opening a fullfilment centre or a warehouse in Bhiwandi. Some of these centres stock thousands of products. The idea is to reach out to customers in Mumbai and around the Mumbai marketplace faster. A fire in the timbre mart in the powerloom town indicates the precarious condition of infrastructure in Bhiwandi.

PrintWeek India spoke to the two presidents of Mumbai’s top print associations, Medha Virkar of Mumbai Mudrak Sangh (MMS) and Faheem Agboatwala of the Bombay Master Printers Association (BMPA); to understand the impact of this tragedy on print.

BMPA’s Faheem Agboatwala said, “Bhiwandi is as good or bad a print hub as any other. I don't think the recent fire is a reason enough to question Bhiwandi.” 

Medha Virkar said, “The fire at Bhiwandi and the loss of human life and property makes you aware once again of the much neglected subject - insurance - of life as well as of property. This is precisely why MMS held a seminar on the subject of insurance.

Agboatwala agreed, “To become a print hub I believe a location needs to first focus on clean power, good roads, transportation and easy availability of skilled labour.” 

Virkar carried on, “While underwriting risk and accepting the proposal, insurance companies generally do pre-risk acceptance audit and it is here that we get an opportunity to put our house in order. Illegal constructions generally don’t follow any safety norms and it is only during disasters that such things surface.”

Agboatwala chimed in, “Fire safety needs to be worked upon irrespective of your location. Maybe as an association, the BMPA, needs to educate our members on the risks and hazards and ways to avoid fires. I will take this up with my team soon.”

Virkar, as president of Mumbai Mudrak Sangh issued a clarion cry, “It is therefore for us to be alert about the legality of the building to be hired or bought by us. ESIC covers the risks involved as regards our workers. When new clusters come up as in the case of Bhiwandi as a hub for printing, the early ventures and their promoters must take the initiative to form local associations for ironing out infrastructure-related issues.”

Agboatwala concluded, “Indian companies and printing companies in India have a dismal record as far as fire safety goes. It is this issue which needs to be addressed. Being in an industrial gala where you have little control on your neighbours only increases the risk.”