Blaze at arms dump: CAG had warned of fire
Besides material losses, at last count 16 personnel had lost their lives while at least 17 were injured.
New Delhi: There had been early fire-risk warnings about the 7,000-acre Central Ammunition Depot in Maharashtra’s Pulgaon.
In a 2012 audit report on ordnance factories, the Comptroller and Auditor General said about CAD, Pulgaon: “Shortage of FF (fire-fighting) staff at the CAD had not been made good even after lapse of one-and-a-half decades despite assurance given by the (defence) Ministry in their ATN (Action Taken Report) to fill up the vacancies.”
CAD no stranger to fire accidents
The Comptroller and Auditor General way back in 2012 had warned that the Central Ammunition Depot at Pulgaon, Maharashtra was vulnerable to fire risk.
“The critical depot has been kept vulnerable to fire risk inspite of surplus FF staff held in other depots within the same command and an expenditure of Rs 5.81 crore had been incurred on their pay and allowances during the period 2004-09,” the national auditor added.
Nor is the CAD a stranger to fire accidents. On May 9, 1989, the country saw one of the biggest fires at India’s largest ammunition dump, causing a loss of more than Rs 140 crore at present value. The cause was a fire that started in uncut grass in an adjacent area. Luckily no lives were lost.
However, Monday’s fire was different. Besides material losses, at last count 16 personnel had lost their lives while at least 17 were injured. Defence sources told this newspaper, “The deaths were due to the secondary explosions when the soldiers from the Defence Security Corps (DSC) and fire-fighters went in to control the fire.”
About 40,000-strong, the DSC comprises retired servicemen from the Army, Navy and Air Force who rejoin to work for a few more years. They are usually tasked with securing and guarding key defence installations.
Other sources that this newspaper spoke to, while not ruling out other angles, pointed to two strong possibilities: one, uncut grass catching fire and spreading; and two, explosives with fuses and containing white phosphorus, which is extremely volatile.
Housing the entire range of small arms ammunition, bombs, landmines, high-calibre ammunition of armoured vehicles, battle tanks, missiles, etc, CAD is the central repository of all ammunition from procurement agencies, like ordnance factories and trade sources, which is distributed to various depots and field ammunition depots to replenish stocks.
Modi pained
Pained by loss of lives caused by a fire at central ammunition depot in Pulgaon, Maharashtra. My thoughts are with the bereaved families, said Narendra Modi, PM
1 am, Tuesday: Fire breaks out at arms depot, defence and civilian fire-fighters contain the blaze to one depot. About 1,000 people were evacuated from the surrounding areas.
- 2 Army officers, a soldier and 13 civilian fire-fighting personnel were killed while trying to douse the blaze.
- The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained. The Army has instituted an inquiry.
- 7,000-acre Central Ammunition Depot at Pulgaon, 115 km from Nagpur is one of Asia’s largest.
- The CAD stocks bombs, grenades, shells, rifles, missiles and explosives. It is then distributed to the forward areas.
- The fire is suspected to have been caused by extremely hot weather. 130 tonnes of ammunition, worth Rs 100.44cr, destroyed.