Reading hall for competitive exam aspirants gutted in fire in Pune’s Navi Peth

Pune: A two-decade-old reading hall for competitive exam aspirants was gutted in fire around 7am on Saturday on the third floor of Parth Complex at Ganjwe Chowk in Navi Peth, but fortunately there was no casualty in the early morning blaze.
The reading room, Dhruvatara Abhyasika, was launched in 2000. The cause of the fire at the facility was not established till the time of going to press.
Fire brigade officer Rajesh Jagtap from the Erandwane Fire Station said the central fire brigade control room received a call around 7.35am from residents reporting about smoke billowing from the top floor of the reading room premises.Initially, a fire tender reached the spot and started the firefighting operation. Since the magnitude of the fire was enormous, three more fire tenders and two water tankers were pressed into service to douse the flames.
Jagtap said the firemen sprayed water from a neighbouring under-construction site after breaking its top floor wall. They also sprayed water from all sides and brought the fire under control by 8am. The blaze was completely doused around 8.30am. Study material, furniture and electronic goods were destroyed in flames.
Residents of adjacent buildings told the firemen that the reading hall's officials had sprayed pesticide to get rid of bugs in the facility on Friday and locked the premises. Jagtap said the reading hall did not have a fire safety no-objection certificate. An inspection of the hall revealed that there was no safety measure in place, he said.
Dhruvatara Abhyasika proprietor Gauri Pole told TOI, "The reading room spread across 1,500sqft wss used to train 115 aspirants preparing for competitive examinations of MPSC and UPSC. We had sprayed pest control chemicals following complaints of bugs from students and locked the hall airtight. Barring a tube light, we switched off all lights and fans. The fire started at 7am. We alerted the fire brigade after 30 minutes."
She said, "Our coordinator opened the hall when the firemen arrived. Study material, six air-conditioners, furniture and a few CCTV cameras were destroyed in fire, causing a huge financial loss. Firemen entered the reading hall through the terrace and removed 11 laptops, four tabs, four cellphones, and a MacBook to safety."
Pole said, "No damage was caused on the first and second floors of the complex, also used to train students. An office also operates from there. We earlier approached the fire brigade to conduct a fire safety audit on our premises and issue a no-objection certificate, but we were told we don't come under its purview. Then we installed two fire extinguishers as a preventive measure."