Tragic fire broke out on Devgiri Fort

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:

In a tragic incident, a massive fire broke out from three sides of the conical-shaped Devgiri Fort, today morning. The clouds of black smoke billowing in the sky caught the attention of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI, Daulatabad sub-circle) staff, residents in Daulatabad and tourists. The ASI geared up, while others drew towards the monument. Meanwhile, the sources mentioned a huge loss of forest wealth in the fire incident.

Fire in morning

The fire broke out today between 10 am and 10.30 am. The dry wild grass on the sloppy area of the Fort near Kalakot Gate caught fire first. Later on, due to high winds, it spread wildly towards Bharatmata Temple, Chand Minar, Bhool Bhulayya, Ganapati Mandir, Baradari, Durga Top (Canon) and the surrounding area. Every year, the fire would break out from the rear side of the Fort, but this summer, it spread on all three sides. The height of the flames was 10-15 feet.

Fire brigade reached, but….

The ASI officials immediately alerted the fire brigade at 10.30 am. Accordingly, four fire tenders, two each from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Waluj MIDC, reached the site. However, the fire tenders due to the high and low elevation of the Fort and geographical conditions, were unable to reach the exact spot and douse the fire. Hence the fire continues to spread wildly. Hence few alert tourists, visitors and ASI personnel - G P Bankar, Sagar Jadhav and Hamid Shaikh - started to douse the fire by bringing water in buckets and pots from the lower portion of the Fort. Fire brigade personnel also made strenuous efforts to douse the fire. Few private tankers were also pressed to get water in bulk quantity and lengthy pipes to tackle the emergency, it is learnt.

Loss of flora and fauna

The incident has caused harm to the Flora and Fauna of the campus. The reptiles, peacocks, peahens, and many trees having nestles of birds were affected by the fire.

ASI says

The ASI’s conservation assistant Sanjay Rohankar said, “ As soon as the fire was spotted, the fire brigade station was alerted at around 10.30 am. The fire tenders reached the site immediately and started their work. More than 95 per cent of the fire has been doused by 4.30 pm. We used all our available water sources on the Fort campus to douse the fire (for filling water tenders, buckets etc). Meanwhile, we are surveying the CCTV footage to see how the fire incident has taken place. We will see whether anybody was throwing the cigarette or Bidi’s butt.”

Tourists evacuated safely

The ASI staff geared up and safely evacuated the tourists inside. Besides, entry to the Fort was closed for tourists. Upon receiving this information, Police Inspector Rekha Lodhe, PSI Vasant Shelke and team along with Police Inspector (Traffic branch, Cantonment) Ashok Bhandari and his team also rushed to the scene and took necessary action.