Major fire at Srinagar civil secretariat

A major fire broke out Thursday inside the civil secretariat complex in summer capital Srinagar in which a wooden building was gutted as dozens of fire tenders and scores of fire fighters battled the flames.

A senior official of the state fire service department told IANS around 8.30 a.m. Thursday smoke was seen billowing out of a portion of the civil secretariat in Srinagar.

"Fire tenders were immediately rushed to the spot and a massive fire fighting operation was launched to bring the fire under control.

"The flames have been completely doused now, but it will take some time more to ascertain the cause of fire," the officer said.

The wooden block housing the administrative offices of the higher education department, planning department, office of the employees' association and the canteen have been completely destroyed in the blaze.

The civil secretariat houses all the top government offices in the state including those of the chief minister, his ministerial colleagues, the state chief secretary and all other senior bureaucrats.

The civil secretariat is situated in the Batmaloo area of the city half a kilometre from city centre Lal Chowk and a stone's throw away from the headquarters of the state fire services department.