Major fire at FCI godown in Kochi

KOCHI: A fire broke out at the Food Corporation of India (FCI) godown at Willingdon island here on Sunday morning, causing major losses. No casualties were reported as the godown was closed on Sunday. Though the exact reason for the fire is not known, it is suspected that the fire broke out owing   to electric short circuit.According to officials, the incident occurred around 9.30 am. It was a security guard who was on duty at the godown noticed smoke coming out of a part of the building. He immediately alerted the officials at the Cochin Port and the Fire and Rescue Services personnel. Fire and Rescue Services teams from Gandhi Nagar, Mattanchery and Club Road fire stations along with three fire units from the Cochin Port managed to put off the fire without delay. The fire was completely extinguished within an hour, said the officials. The FCI officials said that the exact quantity of loss can be ascertained only after verifications on Monday. “It seems that a substantial quantity of food grains has been damaged. Foodgrains, including wheat from Punjab and rice from Andhra Pradesh, stored in the godown, have been damaged. “The foodgrains have been stored at the godown for distribution through ration shops. We have not calculated how many sacks of foodgrains got damaged in the fire. Though at first it seemed there was a loss tune of around `5lakh, we will be able to arrive at a final conclusion only on Monday, after counting the remaining sacks,” said Radhakrishna Kurup, FCI godown manager. The Fire and Rescue Services officials, too, said that the exact reason for the fire could not be identified. “It could either be through short circuit or lightning. Since it was alerted on time, we could put off the fire without much delay,” said the officials.