₹20 crore and all hope lost in 2nd Oshiwara furniture market fire

The Mumbai fire brigade is still investigating the cause of the level 2 (medium emergency fire), which began around 11.30 am on Tuesday

MUMBAI: A Level 2 fire burned down over 400 shops and godowns in the Oshiwara old furniture market in Jogeshwari West at around 11.30 am on Tuesday. Devastated shop owners said they had incurred a loss of over ₹20 crore, the blow coming even as they were still trying to recover from a similar fire in March 2023.

Mumbai, India. Feb 11, 2025: A massive fire broke out at Oshiwara furniture market in Jogeshwari, Mumbai's suburban, on Tuesday morning. Mumbai, India. Feb 11, 2025. (Photo by Raju Shinde/HT Photo) (Hindustan Times)

By 5.45 pm, the fire, which had spread over an area of 8 to 10 square metres, had been extinguished, with no injuries reported. Cooling operations were, however, on till 10 pm. “We are still investigating the preliminary cause of the fire,” said a fire brigade official.

The Oshiwara market is one of the oldest furniture markets in the city, with antique shops, factories and godowns. The market is divided into three compounds, viz Ramjanak Singh Compound, Chaturvedi Compound and Kurla Compound. According to divisional fire officer P R Parulekar, the last one was where the fire started between 10 am and 10.30 am. The compounds are separated by a garbage-filled sewer, through which the fire spread.

The panic-stricken workers and shop owners ran for their lives when they heard the blast that started the fire. “We didn’t have time to take out the furniture,” said Azimullah Chaudhari, who has a shop and a godown in the Kurla compound with furniture worth ₹8 lakh. “In the last fire I lost about ₹13 lakh worth of stock.”

Riyaz Khan, another shop owner, did get the time to take out his furniture. “We moved it to the road, but when the fire brigades came in, we had to move it again, so our goods were either burnt or broken,” he said. “We were still recovering from the losses from the last fire. Now we have to start all over again.” Riyaz said he had lost ₹2 crore to ₹3 crore worth of furniture.

Saeed Khan, whose father is the chairman of a furniture shops association in the Chaturvedi compound, said that workers would flee in fear whenever they saw a fire, started either by gas cylinders while they were cooking or a short circuit. “At that point, it is small enough to be managed, but then it multiplies,” he said. “The fire started towards the back, and by the time we found out about it, it was too big already. We’re looking at a loss of ₹1 crore this time around; the last time it was around ₹3 crore.”

Some locals blamed builders who are eyeing the market for redevelopment, claiming that the fire brigade reached the spot an hour after the fire started. Parulekar refuted this. “It was the neighbouring residents who spotted the flames rising from the market and called us,” he said. “The furniture shops don’t call us in time and try to handle it themselves, which delays everything. The Goregaon fire brigade is around 1 km away, and it did not take us much time to reach.”

All the shopkeepers are reportedly in talks with developers for the redevelopment of the land. “Many people have taken their rental cheques while some are still opposing redevelopment,” said a shopkeeper. “The builders are constantly pressuring us to vacate. I have received several threats from developers to sign the contract, but they are not giving us a good deal.”

Saeed Khan said he did not suspect foul play. “While we are in talks with Roswalt Realty and have signed an agreement with them, we are quite happy with the deal and there’s no rush for us to pack up and move anywhere,” he said. “The builder has agreed to give us space at least equal to our area, which is around 1,200 feet, and rent during the years of construction. But that is around two years away, and many details are still being ironed out.”

An official from Roswalt Realty, however, refuted the claim of a formal agreement in place. “We are definitely in talks with the shops in Chaturvedi Compound, but so are many other builders,” he said. “It will take some more time to finalise, before which the SRA will have to come and survey the area. That’s a long time away. In such a place where there are so many stakeholders, nothing is final till the area has been demarcated and the occupants have shifted out.”

The SRA also denied having any ongoing project in the area.