Satpura Bhawan fire: Over 12,000 key govt files gutted, documents related to Covid payments destroyed

Over 12,000 important files and furniture worth Rs 25 crore were gutted in the massive fire that broke out at Bhopal's Satpura Bhawan, which houses offices of various departments of the Madhya Pradesh government, according to an India Today report.

The Congress has alleged a conspiracy behind the blaze, with the party's leader Kamal Nath, asking whether there was a fire or was it set. "The fire in Satpura Bhavan is a matter of great concern. The question is, is there a fire or has a fire been set?," he asked.

The fire, which started on the third floor and spread to the fourth, fifth and sixth floors of the building, comes just ahead of the state Assembly polls slated to be held later this year.

"The way Satpura Bhawan caught fire before the assembly elections in the past as well as this time, it is not a small matter. There are reports of burning of more than 12,000 files. This is a matter of corruption. There should be an impartial inquiry into the fire by an independent agency," Kamal Nath added on Twitter.

The service records, complaint documents and budget accounting documents of employees on the four floors of the building were burnt to ashes, the India Today report said.

The files of the complaints registered with the complaints branch of the Health and Family Welfare Department and the documents related to the payments made to the hospitals during the Covid-19 pandemic were also gutted, it added. However, medicines, equipments and tender files were not gutted as they were reportedly kept on the second floor.

No casualties have been reported in the blaze as people were safely evacuated before the fire spread.

"As per prima facie information and people present at the spot informed that the blaze erupted on the third floor of the building due to a short circuit in an air conditioner and raged to other floors due to wind," said Bhopal Police Commissioner Harinarayanchari Mishra, as per PTI.

Probe Panel formed

Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has announced a committee to investigate the cause of the fire at Satpura Bhawan.

ACS Home Rajesh Rajoura, PS Urban Neeraj Mandloi, PS PWD Sukhbir Singh and the ADG Fire will be part of the committee. The members of the committee will hand over the probe report to the chief minister.

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