A day after a horrific blast and subsequent fires at a bungalow at Gyanda society in Jivraj Park, Ahmedabad that claimed the lives of a woman and her 4-year-old son, more details are emerging about the illegal storehouse of AC material and gas cylinders.

Five cars and six-two wheelers parked near the house were charred in the huge fire.

As per information, Jagdish Meghani owned the bungalow-cum-illegal storage godown. Meghani and his son Kartavya operated an air conditioning service centre. They stored AC repairing materials including compressor, copper wire, and highly combustible AC gas or refrigerant in the ground floor of their residence.

Preliminary investigation revealed that the fire started due to a spark that would have quickly spread due to gas leakage. More than 1,300 cans of butane gas were stored in the house.

The deceased were identified as Jagdish Meghani's wife Saraswati, who was said to be four months pregnant, and her 4-year-old son Soumya. They were on the first floor of the house, when the explosion took place on the ground floor around 3.15 pm on Sunday.

The fire spread in minutes due to the presence of highly combustible materials on the ground floor.

Chief Fire Officer Jayesh Khadiya rushed with his team to douse the fire. After around 1.5 hours, the fire was doused. The fire teams arrived again on Monday morning again to sprinkle water to douse the fire which was reignited. 

The woman is said to have died in the house, while Soumya was declared dead on arrival at the hospital.

Upon receiving information about the incident, Deputy Commissioner of Police Zone-7 Shivam Verma, Assistant Commissioner of Police B M Vanand, and personnel at Vasna police station arrived at the scene and initiated an investigation into the entire incident. 

As per police sources, along with a case of accidental death, a case of negligence is likely to be registered against Kartavya Meghani.

Owner ignored notice from society

A letter dated February 13, 2024, was addressed to Jagdish Meghani by Gyanda housing society secretary Deepak Prajapati. It reads as follows, 

Regarding your use of house no 24, Gyanda society, as a godown, you are hereby informed that you should not keep any items in the bungalow compound; you should keep them inside your bungalow. Do not place them outside or on the roof of your compound.

You are involved in the business of supplying various raw materials for air conditioners. You also keep AC gas cylinders in the compound, which poses a risk of fire. Therefore, to avoid inconvenience to the residents nearby and your family, please immediately remove the materials kept in the compound. Plan to keep the materials in the house in such a way that there is proper ventilation. If you are negligent in doing so, we will be forced to inform the corporation about this matter concerning the residential area.

Only you will be responsible for any unexpected incident that occurs.

Arrange the work in such a way that it does not cause inconvenience to yourself and those around you.

You are hereby informed that if you do not remove the old materials from your compound within 7 days, we will take legal action.

The unfortunate incident could have been prevented, had the owner complied with the notice.

Local MLA Amit Thaker reached the site on being apprised of the situation. Thaker called for accountability and dubbed the accident as ‘criminal negligence’. He asked Amdavad Municipal Corporation (AMC) why no steps were taken against the illicit godown.

As per a letter addressed to deputy municipal commissioner of South West Zone, AMC, the office bearers of Gyanda Co Op Housing Society Ltd wrote, “We have informed the owner of house no 24 in our society, Jagdishbhai Meghani, to remove old materials, AC gas cylinders, and other business-related equipment from the compound and keep them inside his house. A copy of this letter is enclosed herewith.”

The letter also mentioned that no action was taken by the owner in this regard.