Tension created at the sprawling campus of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) situated in the Satellite area of Ahmedabad on Thursday as a fire broke out in the Space Application Center (SAC) during afternoon.
Though there has been no casualty due to the fire incidence at SAC, but possibilities of major damage in costly equipment related to space programme. Sources in the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation’s fire department said that a guard working with Central industrial Security Force (CISF) was injured. Realising importance of the ISRO, more than 25 vehicles of Ahmedabad Fire and Emergency Services (AFES) and 10 ambulances reached at the campus. Ahmedabad collector Vikrant Pandey and other senior officials rushed to the spot within few minutes of the incident. Sources in ISRO said that Research Centre Building inside the campus completely charred. Prima facie the cause of fire believed to be short circuit, said an official in the fire department. According to Chief Fire Officer Rajesh Bhatt it took more than two hours to douse the flames completely as thermocol sheets caught the fire and started emitting smoke.
SAC is the important research and development centre of ISRO. Especially SAC Ahmedabad having multi-disciplinary activities is contributing immensely in the space programme of the nation. SAC was established by Vikram Sarabhai who is also known as the father of the Indian space programme.
It is known for development of space borne and air borne instruments/payloads and their applications for national development and societal benefits. These applications are in diverse areas and primarily meet the communication, navigation and remote sensing needs of the country. Besides these, the centre also contributes significantly in scientific and planetary missions of ISRO like Chandrayan-1 and Mars Orbiter Mission.