Blaze at Pune's Central Building exposes looming hazard

The feeder box of the lift in the Central Building caught fire on Friday afternoon, causing panic among the employees in different government offices located in the building.

Employees reported heavy fumes and acrid smell filling the ground floor of the Central Building, which alerted the workers of the public works department (PWD), who switched off the main connection and thus avoided a major disaster. Employees point out to the frequent occurrence of such fires as a result of shoddy maintenance of the electric wiring in the building.

“We were working on an electrical pole when the news of the fire reached us. In order to avoid the fire from spreading, the main supply was cut off. However, the PVC coating of the wires of the feeder box had melted due to the heat,’’ said Bajirao Jadhav, a linesman of PWD. There were no reports of casualty or loss of property. Although a fire tender had rushed to the spot, the fire was controlled by then.

Housing the offices of the animal husbandry, registrar of cooperatives and other state government offices, this office is frequented by many people every day. However, employees point out to the shoddy condition of the electrical maintenance in the building as a cause of concern.

“The electric lines are outdated and often there are cases of power failure. Also, during summer, due to overloading, short-circuit fires are quite common,’’ said an employee on the condition of anonymity. Although the electric lines were replaced a year ago, the problem is yet to be resolved.