Fire at Rajiv Bhavan in Odisha, conference hall burnt down

A major fire broke out at Rajiv Bhavan, an extension of the Odisha Secretariat, completely gutting the conference hall of water resources department here, fire brigade officials said.
No casualties were, however, reported in the incident.
The fire was first detected by the officials who reached Rajiv Bhavan housing the water resources department, office of the Odisha State Disaster Management Authority (OSDMA), Special Relief Commission (RSC) office and certain portion of agriculture department.
"The fire probably originated from the air-conditioner of the conference hall in first floor of Rajiv Bhavan due to shot circuit," said fire officer Ramesh Majhi.
Fire brigade personnel had a tough time in bringing the blaze under control as the fire tenders could not enter into Rajiv Bhavan premises due to norrow main gate.

They, however, managed the situation by procuring small size fire tenders, said Majhi adding that though all fire distiguishing equipments were at the building, they did not work at the time of need.
Water resources department secretary Suresh Mohapatra said the government will certainly review the fire fighting system at Rajiv Bhavan.