VASCO: A fire in the corridors of the municipal building in Vasco on Monday created panic among the citizens, including the students of a school located on the building’s first floor. The fire was reported after 7 am and is suspected to have been triggered by a cigarette as beggars use the corridors for shelter. One of the beggars may have thrown a lit cigarette close to cobbler’s utility box, which is usually kept in the corridors at night.
“We saw thick smoke coming out from the corridors and initially thought that one of the government offices on the ground floor got engulfed in fire. As a precaution, we immediately evacuated the students,” said a schoolteacher from Municipal High School.
As the fire engulfed plastic, leather and other materials kept in the corridors, the municipal building was soon filled with smoke. Officials from different government departments who had offices in the municipal building remained in panic until fire officials doused the flames.
“The primary investigation revealed that mishap may not have been due to short circuit, but possibly due to lit cigarette thrown by someone near the utility box belonging to cobblers in Vasco,” said Namdev Parvar, Vasco fire station in-charge.
Meanwhile, the Mormugao Municipal Council (MMC) has decided to close all four entrances to the municipal building to keep beggars away. Chairperson Lavina D’Souza stated, “It is true that the building was not secured. After Monday’s mishap, we have decided to lock all entrances. We already moved a note to the entire government department having their offices in the building that the building entrances will be locked after 7 pm henceforth. We also decided to install CCTV cameras in the building to ensure that all activities during the day and night are done under CCTV surveillance, of which a live feed will be made available to the Vasco police for monitoring.”
