Chief Fire Officer PS Rahangdale has said he will finish his probe into last week’s fire at the Make in India event at Girgaum Chowpatty. Meanwhile, a series of reports by this newspaper has already exposed several serious procedural lapses. Worse, this paper’s first report drew contradictory responses from the three sides involved in the incident — the state government, the fire department and the organisers.

This has clearly exposed that the probe is in a mess. While the state maintains that the venue was audited thrice in the days leading up to the event, the organiser Wizcraft says one mock drill was conducted. Caught between the two versions, and with no record of a fire audit or a compliance report to show that all the instructions in the No Objection Certificate (NOC) were followed, the fire department seems to be indulging in some old-fashioned damage control, saying the probe will be delayed.