BHOPAL: A massive fire that broke out at Satpura Bhawan – a government building in Bhopal housing offices of various departments of the Madhya Pradesh government, was doused after over 13 hours of the firefighting. The fire broke out on Monday evening and could be extinguished only by Tuesday morning. No casualties have been reported in the blaze as people were safely evacuated before the fire spread, said an official. “The fire has been brought under control. All agencies including CISF and Army came together to douse the fire and it has been controlled,” said Ashish Singh, District Collector, Bhopal.
The fire started on the third floor around 4 pm and spread up to the sixth floor. Earlier, Madhya Pradesh Medical Education Minister Vishvas Sarang said that the fire was brought under control and efforts were on to douse it. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had dialled Defence Minister Rajnath Singh seeking help from Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopter in dousing the fire.
The building houses offices of various departments of the Madhya Pradesh government, prompting authorities to call in fire tenders from Army, AAI and facilities of oil companies, officials and the chief minister’s office said. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan apprised Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Home Minister Amit Shah about the fire, an official said.
Earlier, the prime minister has assured Chouhan of all possible assistance from the Centre for controlling the blaze, the official said. Indian Air Force plane AN-52 and MI-15 chopper joined the dousing operation in the night. On directions of Chouhan, state Home Minister Narottam Mishra and the medical education minister reached the spot to take stock of the situation, the official said.
The fire, which affected the third, fourth, fifth and the top sixth floor of the building and the terrace was seen from various areas of the city. The affected building is located on a hill in front of the state government secretariat, Vallabh Bhawan. Officials said the fire has destroyed furniture and documents of several departments.
Fire tenders and firefighters from the Army, Indian Oil Corporation, BPCL, Airports Authority of India, BHEL, and from Mandideep and Raisen were called in, the Chief Minister’s Office said. District Collector Ashish Singh said all resources were mobilised and around 22 fire tenders and 30-40 tankers were involved in the dousing operation.
He said the fire spread as there were many files stored in the building and firemen were not able to enter due to heavy smoke. The density of the fire was very high. No casualty has been reported, Singh added. “As per prima facie information and people present at the spot informed that the blaze erupted on the third floor of the building due to a short circuit in an air conditioner and raged to other floors due to wind,” said Bhopal Police Commissioner Harinarayanchari Mishra.
Bhopal Municipal Corporation’s Fire Officer Ramesh Neel said the blaze erupted at around 4 pm. “Furniture and documents are prima facie destroyed in the fire,” he said. Meanwhile, the state government has formed a committee of senior bureaucrats to probe the possible reasons behind the fire. The panel includes the Additional Chief Secretary (Home), Principal Secretary (Urban Administration), Principal Secretary (PWD) and Additional Director General (Fire), the CMO said. (With PTI and ANI inputs)