Fire at Mahindras8217; plant

NEW DELHI, March 23: A major fire broke out in the stores department shed at the tractor assembly plant of automobile giant Mahindra amp...

NEW DELHI, March 23: A major fire broke out in the stores department shed at the tractor assembly plant of automobile giant Mahindra amp; Mahindra at Hingna industrial estate on Monday morning, gutting spare parts and assembly equipment worth crores of rupees.

Two assembly plants of the company where several tractors are assembled each day, fortunately remained untouched by the fire and production resumed after an interruption of eight hours. 8220;Production resumed at the two plants in the evening after electrical and factory inspectors gave a go-ahead,8221;General Manager, Mahindra and Mahindra, Ashok Morey told The Indian Express. MIDC police who are investigating into the case, are of the opinion that a diesel container which was inside the shed caught fire and burst into flames, the reasons for which are yet to be ascertained. The fire spread quickly as the shed was covered with tarpaulin and also due to a strong wind at that time. According to police, the fire was noticed by employees only when itgained enormous proportions.

Employee Hemant Kanhere was the first to inform the incident to the Fire Brigade authorities. Similarly, the Ordnance Factory, Ambazari and the National Fire Service College was also requested to send fire-tenders. Meanwhile, till the fire-tenders could reach the spot, the employees tried using in-house fire extinguishers, but these proved to be of little help to bring the leaping flames under control. Strong winds flicked the burning material in several directions and some of them fell on the roof of a touring cinema theatre, which was pitched a couple of yards away from the company. The theatre roof too caught fire and later, wooden chairs, speakers and other electronic equipment were engulfed in the fire. According to some company officials present at the spot, the shed that was gutted in the fire housed several types of spare parts required for assembling tractors including tractor tyres, transmission gear boxes, gears, oil seals, clutches etc. City police and the NagpurFire Service authorities have not been able to assess the value of property damaged in the fire. But according to general manager Ashok More, the company had estimated the damage at around Rs 3.5 crore.