Madhya Pradesh's political 'mercury' rises after Satpura Bhawan fire incident

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh) [India], June 13 : At a time when the state machinery is dealing with a massive fire at Satpura Bhawan in Madhya Pradesh's Bhopal, the incident seems to have also charged up political atmosphere in the state with the opposition Congress launching a series of allegations against the ruling BJP government.

Congress MLA Jitu Patwari wrote over Twitter, "This is our health directorate. It is operated from the Satpura Bhawan in the state capital Bhopal. Today it caught fire again."

He further wrote, "CM Chouhan, my direct question is, whether the fire breaks out or has it been set? Because it is generally believed that the government does such 'action' to destroy the evidence before the elections. Now, the BJP should also tell who were the culprits in the old fire incident. How many people were punished?"

On the other hand, former Pradesh Congress Committee President (PCC) Chief Arun Yadav tweeted, "Today, when Priyanka Gandhi attacked regarding the scams while addressing in Jabalpur, a huge fire broke out in the Satpura Bhawan in which important files were burnt to ashes."

"Whether it is a conspiracy to burn the documents of scams on the pretext of fire? This fire incident is indicating a change in Madhya Pradesh," he further wrote on Twitter.

The fire broke out at around 4.00 pm in the office of the Tribal Welfare Department operating on the third floor of the building.

The reason for the fire is suspected to be a short circuit in the AC, however, an inquiry will be done into the incident.

As the fire spread, all the officers and employees in the department were taken out safely in time, due to which no casualty occurred.

The actual damage caused by the fire will be assessed only after the fire is extinguished. Several firefighters were engaged in the operation to bring the situation under control.

Madhya Pradesh Minister Vishvas Kailash Sarang said that the operation is underway and the Chief Minister is himself monitoring the situation.

"Operations are underway to douse the fire. Wherever resources are available, we are making full use of them. CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan is monitoring the situation at the spot. All the administration here is engaged in controlling the fire. We hope that soon the fire will be under control," Sarang said.

Calling it an unfortunate incident, Madhya Pradesh Health Minister Prabhuram Chaudhary said that an inquiry will be conducted into the incident.

"It is an unfortunate incident. The administration is engaged in dousing the fire. CM also spoke with PM and all efforts are being made. A high-level inquiry will be conducted into the incident," he said.

Initially, the fire incident occurred on the third floor of the building and later it spread up to the sixth floor of the building.

On getting the information about the incident fire tenders rushed to the spot and started extinguishing the fire.

CM Chouhan talked with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and sought help from the Air Force to douse the fire. He also spoke to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, informed him about the incident and sought necessary help.

On the directions of the Defence Minister, IAF's AN 32 and Mi-15 aircraft were sent to Bhopal for the dousing operation.

CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan also spoke with Prime Minister Narendra Modi over a phone call and informed him about the fire incident. He apprised PM Modi of the efforts of the State Government in dousing the fire and the help received from various departments of the Central Government.

PM Modi assured the Chief Minister of all possible help from the Centre. Besides, the CM announced a committee to find out the preliminary causes of the fire.

The committee includes Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) Home Rajesh Rajoura, Principal Secretary (PS) Urban Neeraj Mandloi, Principal Secretary (PS) PWD (Public works Department) Sukhbir Singh and Additional Director General of Police (ADG) fire.

After finding the preliminary cause of the investigation, the committee will hand over the report to CM Chouhan.