MARGAO: A minor fire incident was reported at the biology laboratory of Multipurpose Higher Secondary School, Borda. The fire caused a scare among officials of the administration, as the old school building is adjacent to the building were the EVMs used during the recently concluded 2019 Lok Sabha elections for South Goa and Shiroda by-election are stored.
However, the strong room was at a little distance from the fire site. The District Administration assured to be extra vigilant to avoid such incidents in the future.
According to the District Administration, smoke emitting out from a window on the second floor of the school was noticed by the security guards who are posted outside the strong room. A fire tender is also permanently stationed at the venue as a precautionary measure.
Executive Magistrate in-charge of the strong room immediately entered the adjacent building and opened the lab from which the smoke was emitting. The fire was put off immediately with the help of the personnel from fire & emergency department who had accompanied the Magistrate and police.
Later it was found that the fire was caused due to some technical fault in the electricity wiring. Taking no further chances the power supply to the building has been disabled.
The District Election Officer & District Collector Ajit Roy, IAS, said, “As a precaution we have disabled the electricity connection of the entire old building. The building is dilapidated and a new structure is bound to come up here in place of the building,” he said.
