Thaindian News

Noida, Jan 11 (IANS) A fire broke out Tuesday in the controversial Ambedkar Park being developed in this suburb of the national capital. The blaze was doused within two hours and no one was injured, officials said. The fire broke out in the afternoon in the dome of the central building being constructed at the Rs.650 crore park, a pet project of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati. It was doused by five fire tenders within two hours, officials said.

Around 100 workers were present in the park but nobody injured in the incident. The exact cause of the incident has not yet been ascertained.

“We received information about the fire at 12.45 p.m. and immediately rushed fire tenders to the spot,” said Fire Station Officer Abhay Bhan Pandey.

Another fire department officer added: “Acting on the information five fire tenders were rushed to the spot. It took almost two hours to douse the fire.”

Superintendent of Police (City) H.N. Singh said it seemed that the thermocol pasted inside the wall of dome might have caught fire, which led to the incident.

Officials said the thermocol might have caught fire while some of the workers were smoking bidis but workers said the sparks from a welding machine led to the accident. Officials said that an investigation was on to ascertain the exact cause.

The park is the brainchild of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati as a tribute to B.R. Ambedkar, one of the architects of the constitution, and to her late mentor Kanshi Ram, the founder of the state’s ruling Bahujan Samaj Party.

A public suit has been filed in the Supreme Court protesting the wastage of public money in constructing the park, which also contains Mayawati’s statues. The court had last month given conditional approval for the park’s development, saying construction can take place in only 25 percent of its area.