On Friday night, a fire broke out at the parking stand near platform one of Varanasi’s Cantt railway station, burning over 150 two wheelers. The fire caused significant damage, but nobody was injured, railway officials said.
This led to quick response by Railway Protection Force (RPF), Government Railway Police (GRP) and the fire department. The blaze was contained and the teams were dispatched immediately. However, even their efforts resulted in 150 vehicles being reduced to the ashes.
Lalji Chaudhary, another Divisional Railway Manager, apologised and said the property suffered extensive damage. According to him, the parking stand, initially open solely to employees of the railway, had lost a lot. No losses of life have been reported, but the damage to vehicles is heavy, Chaudhary said.
Authorities have formed a committee to discover what happened and how much was damaged by the fire. At the moment, it is not clear how it did. Railway officials said they were taking necessary measures to prevent such incidents from happening in future.
The parking stand is an important facility for railway staff and employees have been worried about the incident. Work is underway to help people who are affected and assess safety measures at railway premises.
With every price to be paid when you’ve got the eyes of the world on you, this fire really is drawing the line to improve the safety at public venues — the more public you are, the more apparent the need for improved protocols. Investigators hoped to determine why the blaze occurred to prevent a recurrence and to ensure safety of railway property and personnel.
