Month after fire, Dawood building still awaits structural assessment

The cause of the fire at the Dawood building is still a mystery.

Photo Credits: The Goan/File photo

MARGAO
April 9, 2025. A major fire engulfed the decades-old Dawood building in the heart of the commercial capital, housing around 45 families, mostly tenants.

The building has since been shut down on the plea that it is unsafe for the inhabitants to reside inside the building post-fire incident, sans a structural stability test.

It’s close to a month now since a major fire engulfed the decades-old Dawood chawl at the Khareband locality of the commercial capital, but neither has the structural stability test of the building been conducted yet, nor has the exact cause of the fire been ascertained.

That’s not all. What has delayed the structural stability test of the building is that the Margao Municipal Council is yet to deposit an amount of Rs 23,000 with the Goa College of Engineering to conduct the test.

'The Goan' understands that the Goa College of Engineering, which was roped in by the Margao Municipal Council upon instructions from the Deputy Collector, Margao Ramesh Gaonkar, had sent a proposal to the civic body last week, to deposit an amount of Rs 23,000 as payment towards conducting the stability test of the ill-fated building.

Enquiries have revealed that the MMC is yet to make the payments, thus delaying the exercise of conducting the structural stability test of the building. An MMC official said the technical section has accorded its nod for the payment of the money to the Goa College of Engineering, but hastened to add that the payment will be made only after the MMC Accounts section and the higher-ups clear the proposal.

“The GCE has maintained that they need to rope in equipment from private agencies to conduct the structural stability test on the decades-old building. The MMC has in principle agreed to onboard the GCE to conduct the test, but the civic body needs to follow certain procedures,” he added.

Questions, however, are being raised as to why the proposal to engage the GCE has not been cleared by the civic body with the promptness the issue deserves, more so when the tenants putting up at the building are presently taking shelter with their relatives or have made their own arrangements.

When the residents were told to vacate the ill-fated building on April 10, a day after the fire incident, after an inspection of the premises by Margao MLA Digambar Kamat along with South Goa District Collector, Egna Cleetus, Deputy Collector Ramesh Gaonkar and others, they were assured the structural stability test would be conducted on priority to ascertain the health of the ill-fated building.

However, it would be one month on May 9 since the building was engulfed by the massive fire, but neither has the structural stability test been conducted nor have the authorities ascertained the cause behind the fire.

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Cause of blaze still unknown, no clarity from authorities

MARGAO: Fire services have confirmed that neither the Margao Police nor the Electricity Department have ascertained the exact cause behind the fire that engulfed the Dawood building on April 9.

The Margao Fire Brigade had written to the Margao Police to inquire whether the fire at the Dawood building was an act of arson or otherwise. Similarly, the fire services had written to the Power Department to determine whether a short circuit was the cause of the fire.

A fire official told 'The Goan' that the services have not heard anything from the police and power department about the cause behind the fire.

Fire Officer Gill D’Souza had expressed concern on the day of the blaze, particularly about the top floor of the building being entirely engulfed despite having no electricity connection. Firemen raised the possibility of unauthorised power extensions and urged authorities to investigate further.