Major blaze at Punsup godown

A major fire broke out at a godown owned by Punjab State Civil Supplies Corporation Limited at Malak village on Wednesday afternoon.

A major fire broke out at a godown owned by Punjab State Civil Supplies Corporation Limited (Punsup) at Malak village on Wednesday afternoon. Thick black smoke engulfed the entire godown,in which 3 lakh bags of wheat had been stored. The fire broke out at about 4.15 pm and till the filing of this report,fire tenders called in from Jagraon,Moga and Ludhiana were dousing the flames. Officials said that some 30,000 to 40,000 bags of wheat have been affected by the fire. While the wheat grain is safe,jute bags have been destroyed.

SDM Gurmeet Singh,who rushed to the spot,informed,There is no high tension wire crossing this godown. Thus,the possibility of electric sparking is low. The fire could be the result of a labourer lighting up a cigarette or bidi. Punsup will conduct an inquiry into the cause of the fire.

Meanwhile,Punsup Inspector Vijay Kumar informed that the godown had nine piles of wheat bags,with each pile having close to 33,000 bags. While the fire seems have broken out from one pile,we could see smoke coming out of other piles too. The fire engines have poured water all over the godown to douse any small flame lying under the piles.

With the harvest season on,labourers were present at the godown when the accident occurred. Punsup officials asked the labourers to move as many wheat bags as possible to ensure that there is no fire buried under them. With temperatures rising and dry winds blowing,a small flame can cause huge damage specially around dry jute bags and grain.

Punsup Regional Manager Sher Singh,who too reached the site from Ludhiana,added,A departmental inquiry will be initiated to ascertain the main cause of this fire. No casualty has been reported so far.

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