Madhya Pradesh: Fire at government building in Bhopal doused, probe on

A massive fire that broke out at Bhopal’s Satpura Bhawan, which houses offices of various departments of the Madhya Pradesh government, on Monday is fully doused, an official said on Tuesday.

No casualties have been reported in the blaze as people were safely evacuated before the fire spread, the official said.

“The fire has been brought under control on all the affected floors. Smoke is still coming out from the sixth floor and firefighters will take nearly two hours to completely bring it under control,” Additional Chief Secretary Home Dr Rajesh Rajora told PTI soon after inspecting the building after coming from Delhi in the morning.

A committee formed to probe the fire will begin its work from 1 pm on Tuesday.

“The fire has been totally brought under control. Our priority was to ensure that no loss to human lives takes place and the blaze should not spread to nearby areas and we are totally successful in it,” Bhopal Collector Asheesh Singh said.

He also informed that Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan was monitoring the situation and the fire was doused with the help of the Centre and an Army team along with many other agencies.

The fire started on the third floor around 4 pm and spread to the sixth floor.

As the building houses offices of various departments of the state government, it prompted authorities to call in fire tenders from the Army, Airport Authority of India (AAI) and facilities of oil companies, officials and the chief minister’s office (CMO) said.

The CM apprised Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Home Minister Amit Shah about the fire and sought assistance in dousing it, an official said.

The PM assured Chouhan of all possible assistance from the Centre for controlling the blaze, the official said.

Madhya Pradesh Congress chief and former CM Kamal Nath has hit out against ruling BJP government saying, "This is one more example of corruption. Ye aag lagi ya aag lagayi gayi? That is the question. So far, they have said 12,000 files were destroyed in the fire. But how many files actually got destroyed? What was the motive? This is a major case of corruption and should be investigated by an independent agency."

Indian Air Force plane AN-52 and an MI-15 chopper were supposed to join the firefighting operation in the night but their services were not required as the blaze was brought under control late at night itself, an official said.

The fire, which affected the third, fourth, fifth and the top sixth floor of the building and the terrace could be seen from various areas of Bhopal. 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, AAI, Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), and Mandideep and Raisen were called in, the CMO said. Collector Singh said 22 fire tenders and 30-40 tankers were involved in the dousing operation.

“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 around 4 pm.

Furniture and documents are prima facie destroyed in the fire. The exact amount of loss and extent of damage to the building will be known later, the official 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) Rajora, Principal Secretary (Urban Administration) Neeraj Mandloi, Principal Secretary (PWD) Sukhbir Singh and Additional Director General (Fire), the CMO said.

Arera Hills police station in-charge RK Singh said the blaze engulfed furniture and documents in the departments of tribal welfare and health located inside the building.