Pune: No Evidence Of Short Circuit At Chikhali Fire Incident Site, Say MSEDCL Officials

Sumit Singh

Pune 30th August 2023: The officials of the Maharashtra State Electricity Department Corporation Limited (MSEDCL) has said that they did not find any evidence of short circuit in the MSEDCL that could lead to a fire incident reported at a hardware and electricals shop in Chikhali earlier today. The MSEDCL officials have said that the engineers and staff of the MSEDCL visited the incident site to inspect the area.

“During the inspection, it was observed that the power supply to the meter and service wires, which were installed in the shop by MSEDCL, was intact. Further, there were no indications of any kind of short circuit caused by the MSEDCL equipment” MSEDCL said in a statement.

However, the officials have also said that a joint committee will investigate further to find out reasons. “Upon preliminary investigation, it was confirmed that the fire in the shop was not caused by any short circuit. The suspicion of a short circuit causing the fire in the shop has led the state government’s electrical inspection officials to conduct a thorough examination of the incident site. The subsequent inquiry into this incident will be conducted by a joint committee of various government agencies” the statement added.

It may be noted that four people have lost their lives after a fire was reported in the Hardware and Electricals shop located in the Purnanagar area of Chikhali in the wee hours on Wednesday. All four deceased including two minors were family members and they were residents of Rajasthan. The fire brigade teams immediately rushed to the spot after receiving an emergency call and the fire was brought under control. However, the family of four sleeping in the upper compartment of the shop could not survive as they were sleeping and could not rescue themselves after the fire was reported.