Fire at U.P. AG office, files destroyed

A massive fire broke out at the office of the Uttar Pradesh Advocate General located at Dr Bheemrao Ambedkar Bhawan around 5.30 am on Sunday. A total of 18 fire tenders, including that of the army, air force, and nearby power plants along with fire fighting vehicles from neighbouring Kaushambi and Pratapgarh districts were pressed into service to control the fire in the nine-storey building right opposite the Allahabad High Court. After efforts of over 11 hours, the fire was finally put out.

Though the officials concerned are tight-lipped about the files and information stored in computers destroyed in the incident, sources said the fire is believed to have destroyed a large section of the record room, most racks of the file section and the content section as well as computers etc of the bail section. A police officer said that thousands of files had been burnt in the fire, including those of old litigations dating back many years. However, the sensitivity and importance of the files and computer records destroyed is yet to be ascertained, he added

Chief fire officer RK Pandey said the fire had engulfed the 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th floors of the building. The firefighters first controlled the fire on the 5th 6th, 7th and 8th floors before finally dousing the fire on the 9th floor.

Senior police and district administration officials, including ADG Zone Prem Prakash, IG Rakesh Singh, SSP Shailesh Kumar Pandey and district magistrate Sanjay Khatri, rushed to the spot on getting the information about the fire outbreak and supervised the entire operation.

Senior superintendent of police (SSP)-Prayagraj Shailesh Kumar Pandey said that a few firefighters had received minor cuts on their hands due to broken glass but there has been no loss of life in the incident.

As per reports, commuters spotted smoke billowing out of the building early in the morning and alerted the police.

Fire tenders besides personnel from many police stations reached the spot immediately and cordoned off the area.

Soon, the senior police officials also reached the spot and summoned PAC and RAF personnel to help in the efforts.

Traffic diversions were also put in place in view of the incident.

Fire tenders were also deployed at the flyover near the building for spraying water on the top floors which were engulfed in fire. Meanwhile, chief minister Yogi Adityanath on getting information about the outbreak of fire issued orders to expedite the rescue and relief work.

In compliance with the instructions of the chief minister, a committee has been constituted comprising Prayagraj superintendent of police (City), additional district magistrate (City) Madan Kumar, chief fire officer RK Pandey, additional legal remembrance (LR) (Legal Cell)-Prayagraj Radhey Mohan Srivastava and deputy director (Electrical Safety) Umesh Rai, informed a UP government spokesperson.

This committee, under the guidance of the district magistrate Sanjay Kumar Khatri and senior superintendent of police Shailesh Pandey will submit a report regarding the reasons for the fire so that strict action can be taken against the culprits by fixing the responsibility, he added.