Now-a-days, Nagpur is abuzz with curious talk on “Majhi Metro” look, ‘Joy Ride’ etc etc. The 5-km phase of Nagpur Metro was started on May 1. But on the stroke of midnight of this day, a fiery tragedy had taken place.
Lighting strike triggered fire at Metro Rail’s Khapri (MIHAN) depot on early Thursday night. The inferno reduced stock of imported steel and rubber pads to ashes at the depot. Thousands of plates and pads kept inside a tin shed at a corner were destroyed in the fire. Confirming the development, Maharashtra Metro’s spokesman described the incident as minor and pegged the losses at little over Rs one crore.
The Metro’s spokesman said, “Plates and rubber pads were stocked outside Khapri depot to be used once rail was affixed on the rail route. The pads are used to suppress the noise emanated during running of metro train. Due to atmospheric changes there has been disturbances in the weather pattern in city and a lighting bolt struck the shed that was stocking the parts. The incident occurred around 1.30 am as the lighting emanated a spark that cause the fire to break.”
Three fire tenders from Narendra Nagar fire station of Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) and one from Airports Authority of India (AAI) were pressed into service to douse the flames. The firefighters brought the fire under control in about three hours.T
he spokesman said the rubber pads are locally sourced so there is nothing much to worry. The gutting of pads whose number is couple of thousands is not at all going to affect ongoing work of Nagpur metro. The pads can be bought locally and would be available by the time they are needed to be affixed. The spot panchanama with Sonegaon police however portrays an entire different tale.
The contractor has pegged the losses at Rs. eight crores and said the rubber pads and plates were of imported quality. As the fire spot comes under the jurisdiction of MIHAN, the spot panchanama is with MIHAN’s Fire Brigade unit.
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