Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Monday visited the spot where the fire had engulfed the entire building in Police Bazar. The Chief Minister was accompanied by Chief Secretary DP Wahlang, DGP LR Bishnoi and other senior officials.
The fire incident which occurred on Saturday took almost over 24 hours to douse the fire.
Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma inspected the site and had a review meeting with the officials and has asked officials to submit a report on the incident, which has claimed one life. He has asked officials to conduct all safety audits of the building and ascertain the cause of the fire.
He expressed concerns with the families that were affected by the incident.
“The incident had the potential to be disastrous as it was in the middle of the market area, which was congested and was difficult for fire service to come in. It was a challenging task, but all concerned departments and officials, especially fire service, army, air force, Assam rifles, BSF, police, administration and the community all came together to contain the situation”, he said.
He lauded the efforts of all stakeholders, who ensured that the fire did not spread out from the affected building to the other adjoining buildings and houses. He informed that a detailed investigation will be conducted on the incident to ascertain the cause of the fire.
“We will closely look into the matter and come up with a response mechanism on how we can contain and avoid such a situation in future”, he said.
He said that the building had several godowns which made the entire operation challenging but all stakeholders have shown their utmost commitment in dealing with the situation. He said that safety audits and other measures will also be taken up to ensure that such situations do not arise in future. He also said that a cabinet meeting on October 18 will be held to discuss the entire matter.