Massive fire breaks out in 6-storey MP govt building in Bhopal, no casualties

A massive fire broke out at Satpura Bhawan in Bhopal which houses offices of various departments of the Madhya Pradesh government on Monday (June 12), an official said. No casualties have been reported and those present in the building were safely evacuated.

While it took fire department workers hours to douse the fire, sources said the third, fourth, fifth and sixth floors of the building were the worst affected.

Bhopal District Collector Ashish Singh told the media on Tuesday morning that the fire has been brought under control and all agencies including CISF, Army came together to douse it.

In the night, while the flames were controlled by fire department workers, a cloud of smoke had prevented them from completely dousing it.

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

The government had sought the services of the Indian Air Force (IAF) to deploy helicopters in the dousing operation.

The building houses offices of various departments of the Madhya Pradesh government, prompting authorities to call in fire tenders from Army, AAI and facilities of oil companies, officials and the chief minister’s office said.

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.

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

The Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said Indian Air Force plane AN-52 and MI-15 chopper will join the dousing operation and pour water using buckets from above.

On directions of Chouhan, state Home Minister Narottam Mishra and the medical education minister reached the spot to take stock of the situation, the official said.

The fire was seen from various areas of the city.

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, Airports Authority of India, BHEL, and from Mandideep and Raisen were called in, the CMO said.

District Collector Singh said all resources were mobilised and around 22 fire tenders and 30-40 tankers are involved in the dousing operation.

He said the fire spread as there are many files stored in the building and firemen were not able to enter due to heavy smoke.

“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,” Bhopal Commissioner of Police Harinarayanachari Mishra told reporters. 

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.

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), Principal Secretary (Urban Administration), Principal Secretary (PWD) 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.

(With inputs from agencies)