A major fire broke out at Satpura Bhawan, a six-storey building that houses several departments of the Madhya Pradesh government, in Bhopal on Monday evening.
While no casualties were reported, documents pertaining to departments such as tribal welfare and higher education are likely to have been destroyed. Efforts to douse the fire were on even six hours after the fire started.
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan apprised Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Home Minister Amit Shah about the fire and sought assistance for dousing it, an official said.
Mr. Modi has assured Chouhan of all possible assistance from the Centre for controlling the blaze, the official said.
IAF assistance sought
Mr Chouhan spoke to the Defence Minister and sought the help of the Air Force to extinguish the fire. It is learnt that Airforce AN 32 aircraft and MI 15 helicopter are scheduled to reach Bhopal to join the firefighting effort.
Bhopal Collector Ashish Singh told journalists that resources from all possible avenues, including Army, airport and the Bhopal Municipal Corporation, had been pooled in and 40 fire tenders were pressed into service. He added that because a lot of files [paper] and wooden furniture were kept in the building, the firefighting was taking longer.
“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.
Mr. Chouhan also announced the formation of a four-member committee to probe the preliminary reason for the fire. The Satpura Bhawan is close to Vallabh Bhawan, the State secretariat of the MP government.
Congress hints at foul play
Leaders of the Opposition Congress questioned the timing of the fire “in an election year” and alleged that it was a plot to destroy evidence of scams. “... and government files started burning in Madhya Pradesh. This fire that started before the elections shows that the BJP government has got a whiff of its departure. Corruption files have started burning,” the party tweeted from its national handle @INCIndia.
Former Minister P.C. Sharma sent another tweet alleging that documents of “225 scams in 220 months’ rule of Shivraj Government” had been burnt. Earlier in the day, Congress national general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra made the “225-220” reference at a rally in Jabalpur.
TV channels reported that fires have broken out in the building earlier too, including one in 2018.
(With inputs from PTI)
