50 FAMILIES IN SAIPEM SHIFTED TO SAFER PLACES CAUSE OF FIRE BEING PROBED GSPCB MONITORING AIR QUALITY
PORVORIM/MAPUSA
The fire at the warehouse of the Berger Becker company in Pilerne Industrial Estate has been brought under control following overnight firefighting operations, although some small fires were still going in patches at the site.
As precautionary measures, about 50 families living in Saipem village in Candolim went to the homes of their relatives late Tuesday evening.
Fire fighting operations at the site of Berger Becker factory continued till Wednesday evening and Assistant Divisional officer of Fire and Emergency office Ajit Kamat and Pilerne Fire Station Officer Srikant Parrikar were at the site till evening to monitor the operations.
“The fire at the warehouse of the Berger Becker company in Pilerne industrial estate has been brought under control although some small fires were still going in patches at the site. The roof of the building has collapsed and therefore, a JCB has been used to excavate the patches where fire gets ignited,” said Kamat.
He informed that operations to extinguish the fire continued the whole night.
“Firefighters had a very tough time in extinguishing the fire. Around 10-12 lakh litres of water and 4,000-5,000 litres of foam were used to bring the fire under control, while 11 fire tenders of the Goa Fire Services besides those from the defence and MPT were in operation to fire-fight the inferno.”
Pilerne Fire Station Officer Srikant Parrikar said the management of the Berger Becker Coatings is yet to reveal to them the approximate losses incurred by the company due to the fire.
“But considering the damages caused, it will run into crores of rupees. The exact cause of fire is being investigated. As per our information, the warehouse where raw material was stored, one truck, 2 cars and over 50 two-wheelers were burnt in the blaze,” said Parrikar.
When contacted, Porvorim Police Inspector Anant Gaonkar mentioned that since they were informed about the fire incident by the company, police have registered the case and investigation in this regard is in process.
“According to information by the company, a short circuit could be the reason for the fire. There was short circuit in the storeroom and since combustible material was there, it spread immediately to other places. Hence, the company was compelled to alert the fire services,” said PI Gaonkar.
As precautionary measures, about 50 families living in Saipem village in Candolim went to the homes of their relatives late Tuesday evening.
“On receiving the Advisory from the State government, we shifted around 50 families who were residing close to factory to safer places,” said Candolim Ward 4 Panch Dinesh Morajkar.
“Most family members were evacuated to the homes of their relatives later Tuesday evening and some of those families returned to their homes today. Officials of the Goa State Pollution Control Board had visited their areas but so far, nobody reported any serious breathing problems,” said Morajkar.
Meanwhile, the fire services have stationed one dedicated fire tender in the village for emergency sake.
The Goa State Pollution Control Board has been monitoring the air quality in the area.
“We are monitoring the air quality in the area and found that it is within the permissible limit. But we will continue monitoring the situation on an hourly basis,” said Mohan Patil, Chairman of the Goa State Pollution Control Board.
