One of the city’s most popular haunts for diners and party animals could well be a huge fire trap. Home to restaurants, pubs, night clubs and lounges, the century-old Mathuradas Mill compound in Lower P arel, which also houses offices, resembles a busy marketplace during the day and even at the stroke of midnight.

The Mathuradas Mill compound is always packed with people and cars. Pic/SATYAJIT DESAI

Its narrow lanes, once used to ferry carts and small commercial vehicles, now see hundreds of cars jostling for space with an equal number of pedestrians. Both revellers and those who come here to work agree that the narrow lanes and primitive fire safety equipment are causes for concern. The city fire department has hauled up several mills and old commercial complexes and made them upgr