Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): A day after the devastating fire at the old Mantralaya building, a probe team visited the incident site on Sunday to ascertain the cause and the origin of the blaze. The probe committee members inspected the fifth floor of the building which had turned into a towering inferno on Saturday. Looking at the fully burnt air conditioners the probe committee surmised that the fire might have spread due to blasts in these ACs installed in every room on the floor.
'On Sunday, we went to assess the origins and causes of the fire incident,” said ADG, a member of the investigating committee formed by the state government.The investigation covered the second to fifth floors, revealing that the fire originated from the lower part and ascended to the top levels, the officer said.
The fire officers are suspecting that short circuit led to the fire, however, things will become clear after probe committee submits its report to the government Sources indicated that the fifth floor witnessed extensive damage, with documents, wooden tables, and other items reduced to ashes. The air conditioners, severely charred,and only their remnants were there. The air conditioners appeared to have burst in succession, contributing to the rapid spread of the fire.
Vallabh Bhawan Bhopal |
The aftermath shows a considerable number of half-burnt files, indicating the loss of hundreds of documents. The half-charred files are all soaked as thousands of liters of water was sprayed to douse the blaze. The rooms still bear the lingering stink of smoke. BMC firefighters examined almirahs to ascertain any remaining embers. Meanwhile, a BMC firefighter recounted walking through knee-deep ashes on the fifth floor, stating that area's scattered half-burnt files. Hundreds of files and documents were gutted in the blaze.
The fifth floor of Mantralaya building turned into a towering inferno on Saturday exposing a major lapse on the part of the administration, because this was the second such incident in the past one year. Last year, just before the assembly election, a fire broke out in Satpura Bhawan and destroyed many important documents. The fire officers are suspecting that short circuit led to the fire, however, things will become clear after probe committee submits its report to the government
 (1).jpg)