Major fire in state power utility’s warehouse

ALLAHABAD - Equipment and goods worth around Rs.1 crore were gutted Saturday after a major fire broke out in a warehouse of the state-owned Uttar Pradesh Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Limited (UPRVUNL) here, police said. No casualty has been reported.

The fire engulfed the UPRVUNL warehouse in the industrial Naini area, and over 15 fire tenders were pressed into service to douse the flames.

“Within minutes, the fire engulfed the entire warehouse, that also houses a repairing unit of transformers, and started spreading to nearby establishments,” Police Inspector Satyendra Tiwari told reporters in the city, some 200 km from Lucknow.

“It took over three hours to control the blaze,” he added.

Several employees were present inside the warehouse when the fire broke out but all of them managed to come out safely.

“Even as the exact financial loss caused by the fire is yet to be ascertained, it has initially been pegged at around Rs.1 crore. Transformers, cables and other power-related equipment were destroyed in the fire,” said Tiwari.

According to police, the exact cause behind the fire was yet to be established.