Some firemen who first reached the spot got trapped inside the building, after which they sought help.”“No human intervention was involved in causing the fire that started from the seventh floor. “This is a real loss.Witnesses said the fire was spotted by security guard Jagat Yadav at around 1. A plot of around 6. Deputy fire chief Rajesh Panwar said if the mechanism worked when his personnel tried to activate them, “the fire could have been curtailed soon”.5 acres has already been allotted in the area behind Purana Quila near Pragati Maidan. He said: “Had the fire system been working, it would be easier to control the fire at the earliest. However, we have completely doused the fire, but cooling operations are still on,” said a fire the department official. It just highlights the value of taking utmost care of such a treasure trove.40 am. We will assess the loss and see how we can restore it and how the recovery plan can be made”, the minister said. Said Deepak Apte, director of the Bombay Natural History Society: “It’s indeed a tragic accident. “I saw smoke billowing out of the top floor. Seven firemen were injured in the rescue operation and were rushed to the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, where two of them are said to be in a critical condition. Around 1,000 visitors from across the country visited it daily,” said museum director B Venugopal.
The devastation forced minister of state for environment Prakash Javadekar to order an immediate fire audit of all museums across India as it emerged that the fire-fighting system failed to work at the Delhi museum..It took nearly 12 hours for 160 fire personnel and 60 fire tenders to bring the fire under control. He also said there are plans to move to another area to create a new museum. Natural history collections are an invaluable piece of scientific knowledge.“The entire museum has been gutted. The fire has reportedly destroyed most of the museum’s precious collections.”The idea of the museum was initiated by then PM Indira Gandhi in 1972 during the 25th anniversary of India’s Independence. She had wanted a museum to depict the country’s flora, fauna and mineral wealth to provide an out-of-school facility to educate children and to promote environmental awareness among the people. The new museum will come up in New Delhi, and the project cost is Rs 225 crores. Once the firemen were rescued, the rescue operations were resumed.Fire officials said the safety systems were “not functioning”. Nothing has been left.45 am.
