04 July,2011 08:33 AM IST | | Anurag Jadli and Sidhant Maheshwari
Fire broke out due to short-circuit
With no rains in sight, residents of central Delhi had more in store apart from the heat on Sunday afternoon. There was no electricity in the area for about one hour after a major fire broke out at Rajghat Power Station.
The fire broke out due to short circuit of one of the two transformers at the power station. A fire brigade official said twenty seven fire tenders took around too hours to douse the fire. No causalities were reported as there was less number of people in the plant, it being a Sunday.
Hot spot: Flames and dense smoke engulf the Rajghat Power Station.
Pic/Imtiyaz Khan
Narrow escape
"We were standing near the transformer when the blast took place. We ran for our lives," said Akash Kumar, housekeeping staff, IPGCL.
However, Delhi Transco officials said there will be no power cuts due to the fire. "This power plant generates 170 megawatt power and the power supply to areas like ITO, Delhi Secretariat, Minto Road and Daryaganj would not be affected as we have transferred the load to the sub-stations in Kashmere Gate and Indraprastha," said Delhi Transco spokesperson.
Haroon Yusuf, Delhi Power Minister, said: "The fire may have occurred due to 'low maintenance' as government had already decided to close down the coal-based plant by October this year. I have told them to file an internal investigation report within 24 hours."
Current affairs
Rajghat Power Station is located at NCT Delhi. The power plant is one of the coal based power plants of Indraprastha Power Generation Co. Ltd. (IPGCL). The power plant is run by the NTPC and supplies electricity to north and central Delhi.
Blaze at Shoe factory
A fire broke out at around 2.25 pm at a shoe factory godown on the second floor of a building in Nangloi on Sunday. Fourteen fire tenders went to the spot and managed to bring the fire under control at around 5.30 pm. Though the exact amount of loss is yet to be estimated, no casualties were reported. So far, it is known that the fire broke out due to a short circuit but when everybody noticed the fumes coming out of the godown, they were scared.
Straight talk
There must have been some fault in the transformer. The transformer was installed 18 years ago. Investigation will be done to find out what lead it to short-circuit.
- RS Rathee, managing director, Indraprastha Power Generation Co. Ltd (IPGCL)
There was a huge blast before the fire started and flames rose up to 60 feet.
- BS Meena, Maintenance Workshop Foreman, IPGCL
