The Maharashtra Chief Minister’s office and some other government offices were destroyed in a massive fire which broke out at the Secretariat building on Thursday afternoon. The Secretariat building, locally referred to as Mantralaya, is the seat of power in the State. There were no casualties but eight persons were injured in the fire, which started around 2.40 pm. Preliminary reports suggest that the fire started due to a short circuit.
No one hurt
None of the ministers or bureaucrats suffered any injuries. As soon as the fire broke out, more than 2,500 office workers and 1,500 visitors quickly exited the building complex. About 65 persons who were trapped on the upper floors of the building had to be rescued by the fire brigade personnel.
Adarsh, Lavasa files
The fire broke out on the fourth floor of the main building and quickly spread to the fifth and sixth floors.
As the fourth floor housed the Urban Development Department, in all likelihood, important files and documents relating to the Adarsh and Lavasa cases could have been destroyed in the fire.
The sixth floor, which houses the Chief Minister’s office, has also been partially gutted. Addressing a hurriedly convened press conference, Maharashtra’s Minister for Tribal Welfare, Mr Babanrao Pachpute, said the fire started in his office due to a short circuit, “Lot of smoke started emanating from an electrical panel at about 2.40 pm. My staff attempted to douse it with an extinguisher but it soon spread to the whole office. My office staff raised an alarm and asked all the people to evacuate.”
The Additional Chief Secretary of Maharashtra, Mr Pravin Pardeshi, said that as soon as the fire broke out an alarm was raised and people were asked to leave the building immediately. Given the intensity of the fire more than 20 fire engines, 10 jumbo water tankers, and three ambulances were pressed into service.
When asked by journalists about the 20-minute delay in the Fire Brigade reaching the building, Mr Pardeshi said they reached the building in time. But it took some time for the tenders to reach the actual site as a number of vehicles were parked in front of the building, he added.