M A I N   N E W S

Another blaze at M’rashtra secretariat, no casualties
Shiv Kumar
Tribune News Service

Mumbai, March 9
Ten months after a major fire gutted Mantralaya, the Maharashtra Government's headquarters in South Mumbai, another fire broke out in the same area which is presently under renovation.

Fire brigade officials said the blaze was reported at around noon from the fourth floor of the main secretariat building. Major renovation work is going on on the premises since this part of the building was gutted in June last.

Police and fire brigade officials said there were no casualties as today was a weekend holiday in Maharashtra.

Seven fire tenders were rushed to put out the fire which was soon brought under control.

After the fire last June exposed the poor fire-fighting systems in the area, the state government ordered an overhaul of the disaster reporting system.

As a result, fire tenders from the fire station just behind the secretariat building rushed to the site in minutes, officials said. "The fire brigade was alerted as soon as security personnel saw smoke," a fire brigade spokesman said.

While the blaze was doused in minutes, cooling operations continued for several minutes afterwards. Apart from equipment being used to repair the building, some scrap material and wiring was damaged in the fire, officials said.