Fire at Noida Authority office destroys files & official records

Noida: A major fire broke out in the industrial department section of Noida Authority office at Sector 6 on Monday morning. Officials said that no casualty was reported in the incident, however, many files and other official records kept in the section were gutted in fire. The cause of fire is still unknown.

As per officials, the fire got triggered around 8:45 am at the industrial section located on the ground floor. "Following the information conveyed, four fire tenders were pressed into action and the flames were completely doused and fire was controlled by 12 pm. Prima facie it appears that the fire was triggered due to short circuit but we are ascertaining the actual reason behind fire," said Arun Kumar Singh, chief fire officer, Gautam Budh Nagar district.

Noida Authority officials said that the office was empty because of Eid-ul-Fitr, a public holiday declared for Monday. A security guard deployed at Authority's office reported the fire after he saw smoke billowing out from the ground floor of building.

Officials said that the extent of the damage is being assessed, as several files related to allotment of lands and plots or that of old records were charred in the blaze.

With Monday's fire incident, the allotment of industrial plots might get delayed now as the Noida Authority was planning to come up with an industrial plot scheme to overcome financial losses in past couple of months due to the spread of COVID-19. All the official and paper related work was being done at the department which has got affected in the fire and a virtual draw for the allotment process was also expected soon.

Meanwhile, Noida Authority Chief Executive Officer Ritu Maheshwari has ordered a probe into the incident.

"A five member team has been constituted which will be headed by Additional CEO, to ascertain the cause of the fire. The team will submit its report within a week over the loss caused by the fire and an estimate of the files that have been destroyed. Whosoever is responsible for the fire can be held accountable," said Maheshwari.

Earlier on June 26, 2019, a similar fire broke out at record room under work circle 10 of Noida Authority in which several important official documents and files were gutted. Officials ascertained short circuit to be reason behind the fire.