India, Feb. 20 -- When a fire breaks out in Bhiwandi's sprawling logistics hub, the response hinges on a roll of the dice - a call goes out to the three nearest municipal corporations and whichever one is closest to the blaze dispatches its fire tenders. This ad-hoc system exists because the hub - home to more than 30,000 warehouses stocked with everything from everyday items to flammable products - lacks a fire station of its own.

On Tuesday, the logistics hub, on the outskirts on Mumbai, was ravaged by a second major fire in as many months. It is the nerve centre of e-commerce for millions in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) and yet this key driver of Mumbai's economy is riddled with fire safety lapses.

In an uncanny similarity to...