Blaze at Doordarshan Kendra in Mathura, operations hit

Mathura, June 11: A fire broke out in the switch gear room at the Doordarshan Kendra here on Tuesday due to a suspected short circuit, damaging property worth lakhs of rupees, an official of the public broadcaster said.

Four fire tenders were rushed to the spot and the blaze was doused in about 90 minutes, he said. Thick plumes of black smoke were seen rising from the building as the fire also engulfed the store room and the battery room, he added.

The functioning of the Doordarshan office has been affected due to the incident and it may take at least four to five days to restart full operations, P C Sharma, assistant engineer and officiating in-charge of the Doordarshan Kendra, said. Property worth lakhs of rupees is estimated to have been lost in the fire.

However, the exact extent of damage will be known after an inspection of the affected portions, he said. Timely response by the fire department saved the other portions of the building, including editing room, PCR and studio, fire station officer Krashna Kumar said. Prima facie, it appears that the fire broke out due to a short circuit, he said.