Godown, goods worth lakhs gutted in Maskasath fire

Nagpur: A major fire broke out in a multi-storey godown in congested Maskasath area of Itwari at 4.55am on Tuesday. Goods, mostly paint, nylon ropes, carpets and plastic material, worth several lakhs were destroyed in the fire. The exact cause of fire is not known, said chief fire officer Rajendra Uchake, and added no casualty was reported.
Preliminary investigations by NMC’s fire and emergency services department said the godown housed in a ground plus three storey building is owned by one Ashok Nachankar’s Jangluji Dhondbaji Enterprises. The residential building was illegally converted into a godown, said Ganjipeth fire station officer Anil Gole.
“Neither the owner had obtained any no objection certificate from the fire department nor any firefighting arrangements were in place,” he said.
Neighbours first noticed the flames and called up the police and fire control room 101. Two fire tenders from nearby fire stations at Ganjipeth and Lakadganj rushed to the spot.
The fire had already become intense by the time tenders reached the spot. The fire spread to the entire godown within a few minutes. Fire officials said nobody was present in the godown when the fire broke out.
Gole said since the godown was located in a congested area, they faced inconvenience in launching firefighting operations. Eight more fire tenders from Cotton Market, Civil Lines, Sugat Nagar and other fire stations joined the operations. Though the fire was doused by late evening, the firefighters succeeded in preventing the fire from spreading to adjoining buildings. The fire department also used an excavator and demolished a portion of the building to gain access into the building.
The fire department is likely to issue a notice to the godown owner for not obtaining NOC.
Residents of the locality told TOI that like Nachankar many other businessmen had converted residential units into godowns and constructed multi-storey buildings. In the past too similar fires were reported in the locality, however, owners of such illegal godowns ‘manage’ to evade action.