Big fire at AC plant in Parliament complex

A major fire broke out at the air conditioning (AC) plant inside Parliament complex here on Sunday while welding work was underway gutting the unit and affecting air conditioning in the main building. It took 10 fire engines 30 minutes to douse the flames.

Delhi Fire Service chief A K Sharma said prima facie it appeared to be a case of negligence, as safety norms were not followed in the maintenance work. The Fire department got a call at 2:21 pm and 10 fire tenders were rushed to bring the blaze under control. There were no injuries, fire officials said. Thick black smoke was seen billowing above the red sandstone boundary wall of the 88-year-old complex as the flames raged just a few hundred metres away from the main building which suffered no damage.

Both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha had gone on a month-long break on Friday.

“It was brought under control by 2:40 pm. By 2:50 pm, it was completely doused,” said A K Sharma. Police said that they will enquire into the cause and responsibility will be fixed.

Home ministry has sought a report on the incident. President Pranab Mukherjee also expressed serious concern over the fire and asked for an urgent enquiry into its cause.

This was the second case of fire inside the complex in the last couple of days as a minor fire was reported in the AC wiring at gate number 5 on Thursday.