Major fire in mini-Vidhana Soudha

Charred: What remains of the land records office in the mini-Vidhana Soudha in Gulbarga on Monday.

GULBARGA: Hundreds of files containing land and survey records and several computers with important data on land records, and furniture worth several lakhs of rupees were lost in a major fire in the office of the Land Records and City Survey office, on the third floor of the mini-Vidhana Soudha which houses all State Government offices in the city on Monday. The fire was noticed by the workers in the canteen, which is situated at the back of the mini-Vidhana Soudha in the morning. They alerted the Police and the Fire and Emergency Services departments. By the time the fire tenders and fire-fighting personnel arrived on the scene and doused the fire, a lot of damage had been done. Officials of the department could retrieve very little from the charred remains. The officials of the Land Records and City Survey office put up a brave face and said that important files were not destroyed and only copies of original records and a few applications seeking survey of properties were lost in the fire. Data stored They said all original records pertaining to land survey records of Gulbarga taluk and Gulabrga city had been digitalised and copied in the master compact discs, and stored in a safe place. They said people need not panic about their records. “All the important files are safe,” said a senior official who did not want to be quoted. The official also claimed that the fire had not engulfed the main record room where some of the important files were kept in steel safes. The cause of the fire was not known, and the police and Fire and Emergency Services personnel were yet to decide on whether it was caused by an accident or from an electrical short circuit. The sabotage factor has not been ruled out since important files pertaining to all property rights and original documents are kept in the office. The police and the fire personnel said that they were not sure when the fire started.