Fire breaks out at 4th floor of Mantralaya in Mumbai

Last year,a devastating blaze had caused extensive damage to Maharashtra state secretariat complex.

In a second incident in the last nine months,a fire broke out on the fourth floor of Mantralaya on Saturday morning. Ironically the fire is believed to have started due to the construction work presently taking place to make Mantralaya secure and fire proof.

Preliminary reports indicate that the fire could have broken out due to a small short circuit. Presently the interiors of Mantralaya are being treated with a chemical to make the building structure resilient. There are indications that some of these chemicals could have caused the fire to flare up further.

The fire is supposed to have broken out at 11.40 am. However there were not many people around as the secretariat was closed today. The only people who were present were workers of the construction firm who are carrying Mantralaya’s makeover.

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The floor was immediately evacuated. Fire engines rushed to the spot and brought the fire under control.

“Fire tenders were rushed to the spot and the fire has been extinguished,” Maharashtra Chief Secretary J K Banthia said.

A major fire had broken out in Mantralaya in June 2012 destroying thousands of files as well as claiming lives.

After the June 21 fire which had destroyed a large section of Mantralaya the state government has decided to remake the entire building. It had given a Rs 138 crore contract to Unity Infrastructure to work on the building.

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