Bhopal– A fire erupted at Satpura Bhawan, the second largest building of the Madhya Pradesh government in Bhopal, around 4:00 am on Tuesday. The fire originated from the AC duct on the 25th floor and was controlled, but smoke continued rising from the 8th floor. It took 13 hours to control the fire. Bhopal Collector Ashish Singh had initially announced that the fire had been fully controlled, but later it rekindled on the 8th floor. In response to the incident, a holiday was declared for government offices operating in Satpura Bhawan, and an investigation team was formed to determine the cause of the fire.
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan held a review meeting at CM House to discuss the situation. The Chief Minister formed a high-level committee to investigate the incident and dismissed allegations by the opposition Congress party, stating that no important documents were at risk. The Home Minister emphasized that in the digital age, document destruction is implausible and assured that backup measures would be taken.
The investigation team, comprising officers including ACS Home Rajesh Rajoura, arrived at Satpura Bhawan to assess the situation. While the cause of the fire remains undetermined, the team confirmed that the fire had been controlled on all floors except for some smoke on the 6th floor. The priority during the incident was to ensure no loss of life or damage to surrounding areas, and assistance was sought from the army and central government agencies.
Efforts to extinguish the fire involved deploying 100 army personnel, 4 firefighters, and numerous vehicles and water tankers. Unfortunately, more than 12,000 files, primarily related to the medical department, were destroyed in the blaze. Several individuals sustained injuries in the ensuing stampede. The fire initially broke out on the third floor, which housed the office of the Scheduled Tribe Regional Development Scheme, and subsequently spread to the fourth, fifth, and sixth floors, where the Directorate of Health offices were located.