A fire at Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota has damaged key cables near the launch pad, hardly two months before the launch of PSLV (C-5) slated for September. However, ISRO said today that there would be no delay in the launch of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle.The fire broke out in the cable trench wells near the rocket launch pad in the wee hours of Wednesday between 2 am and 3 am. An ISRO spokesperson said a freak forest fire in the wooded area might have caused the fire that damaged data cables. A safety committee has been appointed to find out the cause of the fire.‘‘Communication cables leading to nearby installations from the launch pad, were damaged,’’ the spokesperson said. ‘‘The repairs to be effected are minor and will be carried out in a fortnight’s time. We will be ready for the PSLV (C-5) launch.’’ CISF personnel first noticed the fire. Within minutes, the fire engines arrived at the spot and put out the fire. But that could not prevent the damage to around 5 metres of cable which were vital for the lift-off.ISRO officials at Bangalore, when contacted, said the cables were in underground concrete channels that ran between the launch pad and buildings. One theory floated is that the dry leaves that collected in the well-side junctions could have caught fire, damaging the cables.
