Fire sabotages Mantralaya

At least two people were killed, 16 injured, and three missing in the massive fire that broke out at the Mantralaya on Thursday afternoon.

The death toll could go up once the fire is completely doused and firemen start inspecting the entire building. Prithviraj Chavan, chief minister, told the press that there were nearly 6,000 people inside the building when the fire started.

Unofficial estimates, however, say the number could easily be 10,000 because thousands of people land up at the Mantralaya on a weekday.

Twenty-one fire engines, 11 water tankers, along with navy and coast guard personnel, could not control the blaze almost 8-10 hours after it started in the central computer server room on the 4th floor around 2.40pm.

In the evening, the fire brigade sought the help of BPCL (Bharat Petroleum), specifically to tackle the fire on the 7th floor, as its fire engine can shoot water jets much higher than the Mantralaya. At the time of going to the press, huge flames could be seen occasionally leaping out of the 6th floor windows.

Fire officials confirmed that the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th floors of the 1955 building have been completely gutted. Amid talks of important documents and records, mainly the Adarsh files, being lost to the fire, Chavan ordered a crime branch inquiry into the incident to find the source of the fire.

He, however, scotched rumours of sabotage. “Such allegations are uncalled for. We have ordered an inquiry... Let us wait for the report instead of jumping to conclusions,” he said.

The chief minister maintained the fire broke out at the server room and that the Mantralaya staff tried to control it in the beginning. When it did not work, they informed the fire brigade and within minutes fire engines arrived and firemen took charge of the situation, he said. “All the offices were immediately evacuated.”

The chief minister said cooling operations would go on throughout the night. “There will be a fire and structural audit tomorrow [Friday],” he said.

Preliminary reports say tonnes of papers, tens of thousands of files, wooden furniture, cloth sofas, and carpets in the building, coupled with strong sea wind helped the fire to spread within minutes from the server room to the upper floors that have the offices of Chavan, his deputy Ajit Pawar, the urban development, home, school education, and several other departments.

When the fire broke out, Chavan was not in the building. But Pawar, whose chamber is next to his on the 6th floor, was inside. He was about to start a meeting with some MLAs and Mahananda Dairy officials when he got to know off the fire. “I gathered my colleagues and staff... All of us came down the main staircase,” Pawar said.

An officer from the disaster management department said, “The structural damage is huge and it would be advisable to pull down the entire building,” he said.