Maha Kumbh fire: Another blaze erupts at tent in Prayagraj a day after LPG cylinder blast

A day after a major fire broke out near a railway bridge in Sector 19 in the Maha Kumbh Mela area in Prayagraj, another fire accident was reported at a tent in Sector 5 on Monday morning when preparations were being made to fry puris, reported ANI.

According to a report by Times of India, the incident occurred in the kitchen of Ram Das ashram.

Soon after the incident, the flames were swiftly doused by the firemen to prevent them from spreading to other tents.

DG Fire Avinash Chandra, while speaking to the media said, as quoted by ANI, “... In the entire Kumbh area, fire safety has been taken with great sincerity. Fifty-three fire stations and 20 fire posts have been built and more than 1,300 firemen and 300 vehicles have been deployed. We will strengthen it even further... The magnitude is so big that there are 9 fire stations in the entire Prayagraj district, and there are 53 fire stations and 20+ fire posts in Maha Kumbh alone...The manpower in Prayagraj is 175 and 1300+ manpower in Maha Kumbh.”

"In a big district like Lucknow, there are 11 fire stations and around 200 manpower. Here there are 1,400 firemen... The area of ​​1 fire station is around 800 square metres, which means it will take less than 3 to 4 minutes for the fire vehicle of one fire station to reach the spot. Our response time is around 3 minutes... All the devotees who want to come here should come without any worry, we will provide them with infallible fire and police arrangements..." he added.

No casualty has been reported so far and the authorities are assessing the damage caused by the fire.

Previous incident

Earlier, on January 19, a major fire broke out near a railway bridge in Sector 19 in the Maha Kumbh area and the cause of the fire was ascertained to be a cylinder blast.

ADG Bhanu Bhaskar stated that no one has been injured. He said, as quoted by ANI, “Two or three cylinders exploded in Sector 19 of the Maha Kumbh Mela, causing a massive fire in the camps. The fire has been controlled. All people are safe, and no one has been injured. An investigation will be conducted.”

Following the accident, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath reached the spot and directed the authorities to take action to avoid a repeat of such incidents. The officials also informed that PM Narendra Modi has spoken to UP CM Yogi Adityanath over the fire incident during Maha Kumbh Mela.

With agency inputs.