The 160-million-year-old fossil of Indian dinosaur “Sauropod” will no longer stand as an attraction for thousands of schoolchildren in National Museum for Natural History as a major fire that broke out at the sixth floor on Tuesday around 1.45 am engulfed the whole building, except the ground floor. Before 50 fire engines could douse the inferno, the blaze gutted all the natural treasure and 15,000 books in the museum situated beside the building of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) on Tansen Marg in New Delhi.
Educational Assistant of the museum Vikas Rana told The Pioneer, “The fossil of the Sauropod dinosaur was the major attraction of the
museum. It was the only one fossil preserved by us and we have lost it.”
Two stuffed vulture specimens too were also charred to ashes. “Vultures are extinct in Delhi, so we had procured two specimens of it in our museum but with the fire, they are destroyed,” said Rana, adding, “Four main exhibit galleries showcasing, ‘Cell: The Basic Unit of life’, ‘Conservation’, ‘Introduction to Natural History’, and ‘Nature’s Network: Ecology’ have been ravaged.”
The fire incident has exposed lack of preparedness and serious security lapses on part of the museum authority. Delhi Fire Services Chief GC Mishra said, “Though the museum had firefighting system installed, but that was dysfunctional. Besides, underground water tank could not be utilised as the pumps attached to it were not working.” However, Museum Director B Venugopal refuted the claims and said the safety arrangements were in place but the blaze was too strong to be controlled with internal resources.
About 50 fire engines, teams from Delhi Disaster Management Authority, BSF, and Delhi and Fire QRT vans helped douse the flame in four hours. Five fire officers injured during the operation were admitted to Ram Manohar lohiya Hospital.
One of the guards Pawan Kumar of FICCI Federation House witnessed how the fire broke out.
He told The Pioneer, “I was guarding the Federation House building when I heard a loud noise of explosion. later I witnessed smoke coming out from the sixth floor of the museum’s building following which I raised an alarm.”
Kumar dialed up 100 and fire services were informed by Delhi Police. Total 25 fire tenders were sent initially by fire station located at Super Bazaar of New Delhi. Several fire tenders and engines were put on standby. To combat the heat and flames inside the six-storey building, 8,000 litres of water was sprinkled using sky machines per minute. Reportedly, eight lakh litres of water was used to douse the fire.
The cause of fire still remains a mystery and there is no clarity from the museum. However, fire department sources said the sixth and fifth floors of the museum building were segregated into small sections using wood and artificial curtains that helped the fire spread rapidly.
According to a fire department official, “Around 6.45 am, the fire was brought under control and cooling operation was started. However, at 8 am fire broke out again on the sixth floor.”
He told The Pioneer, “The intensity of fire was unimaginable…The fire reached to the nooks and corners of the building and dousing that was a major challenge before us.” Fire officials said the building structure has become weak and so they may propose its demolition.