15.2.16

Make In India stage goes up in flames


A massive fire broke out on Sunday evening during a cultural function--Maharashtra Rajani-organised by the Maharashtra government as part of the Make In India event. The fire completely gutted the stage. Fortunately, there were no casualties reported as people were alerted immediately and evacuated. The fire was doused within an hour.
The programme was attended by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Governor Vidyasagar Rao and Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray. The remaining four-day cultural event has been cancelled.Fadnavis has ordered an enquiry into the incident. He himself stayed at the location till late, monitoring the situation and ensuring everyone was evacuated safely.
Still, the incident will cause a major embarrassment to the Maharashtra government which has, for the first time, organised an event of such proportion for PM Narendra Modi's `Make In India' campaign. Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to the chief minister about the fire and enquired as to what caused it, said government officials.
Interestingly, the fire occurred just an hour after Fadnavis, Thackeray and others left the stage. In fact, after Fadnavis' speech, actor Amitabh Bachchan and Hema Malini performed on stage. When the fire broke out at the left side of the stage, a group of women artistes was performing lavani. As the people noticed fire, they anxiously asked the dancers to move away from the stage. In minutes, thanks to the sea breeze, the whole stage was engulfed . Fadnavis, who had invited delegates to the Maharashtra Rajani programme, stayed put till the fire was doused, which took an hour. Government officials have indicated that a short circuit below the stage could be the primary cause of fire.While speaking to reporters, Fadnavis said, “It was an unfortunate incident, I have asked for a high-level inquiry to fix the responsibility . We will do it with a proper authority .The one good thing is that there was no injury to anyone.“
He added a fire audit was done four days before the event and also disaster preparedness was done which also helped. “The fire was brought under control soon. It's too early to speculate on the cause,“ he said .
He said that there would be no change in the `Make in India' programme. However, the Maharashtra government was pilloried by the opposition. The NCP claimed that the fire had embarrassed the state in front of the whole world.

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