PU administrative block gutted

Ishrat Banwait

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 14

A major fire broke out in the accounts branch of the administrative block of Panjab University in the wee hours of Sunday morning. It took eight fire engines three hours to put out the fire. However, the fire engines stayed on till 1 pm and kept sprinkling water on the smouldering debris. The fire not only destroyed the wooden furniture and files but also melted the ceiling.

Other than pension and service tax rooms, all other departments in the accounts branch were gutted. These include salary section, exam and payment, grants and planning and a major part of the budget section.

 The authorities said there was severe power fluctuation yesterday evening and a power outage at around 4 pm. At around 4:30 pm, the employees left their respective offices as there was no power. Some appliances may thus have been left switched on, which caused a short-circuit at night. However, the authorities and the Fire Department are yet to ascertain the exact cause of the fire.

While 90% of the records are manually stored in the department, the Registrar, GS Chadha, said: “We have a complete backup of all data in a server, which is located far away”. The firefighting system installed in the building prevented the fire from spreading to other areas. He, however, said the fire alarms did not go off. The firemen told them that the hydraulic system installed in the building worked only for 10 minutes, added Chadha.

 Fire Station Officer Parmajit Singh Gill said they received a call of fire around 3.10 am in the morning from the police control room. Fire engines were immediately sent to the spot and those reached the spot within five minutes. The fire engines did around 40 rounds of the fire stations for refilling and more than 1.5 lakh litres of water was used to douse the flames. Two hydraulic platforms were also used. Around 40 firemen participated in the operation and they broke the windows to enter the building.

 The Vice-Chancellor, Registrar, DSW, Chief Security Officer, Senator and former Railway Minister Pawan Bansal visited the spot. Chandigarh BJP president Sanjay Tandon and other senators were at the spot throughout the day. Tandon said: “I rushed to the spot as soon as I got to know about the incident. I enquired about the damage and asked the authorities to recover it all soon.”

A clerk, Amit, said: “Almost all our work is done on papers and will not be retrieved”. Even the one that can be retrieved will take months to do so. Bills, transaction records, service records, applications, mark sheets and many other documents were lost to the fire.

Staff extend support to authorities

The teaching and non-teaching staff of the university has extended support to the authorities. President of PUTA Promila Pathak said: “This is a tough time for the whole university and we are with the authorities.” President of PUSA Deepak Kaushik expressed deep concern over the incident. He said: “I appeal to all my colleagues to work together and help the university recover from the huge loss that it has suffered.” The VC has said he will involve the staff to better equip the university in terms of disaster management.

TIMELINE

• 2:45 am Students notice smoke billowing out of the first floor and inform the security guard
• 3:10 am Security guard Jaswant Singh makes a call to the Police Control Room
• 3:10 am PCR calls the Fire Control Room
• 3:15 am Chief security officer receives a call from the guard who in turn makes a call to the Registrar and VC.
• 3:25 am Firefighters located in Sector 11 arrive at the spot along with police officials
• 3:30 am More fire engines arrive and other keep moving to and fro to refill water
• 6:00 am The fire is majorly put out

A wake-up call, need to assess buildings: VC

Vice-Chancellor AK Grover has said an inquiry committee will be formed in a day or two to look into the matter. It will submit a preliminary report first and then a detailed report. He has also admitted that the university was not adequately prepared to tackle the situation. “We were not conducting periodical checks. This is a wake-up call and we will now assess all buildings and make sure that they are well prepared,” said Grover.