Faulty maintenance causes fire, liquor worth 100 cr destroyed

Hyderabad : A massive fire broke out in TS Beverages Corporation Limited (TSBCL) depot in Utnoor on Wednesday morning damaging 100 crores worth of beverages including various brands of liquor and beers. The cause of the fire is suspected to be a short circuit.
“Shankar, a security guard, alerted me when he noticed smoke emanating from the depot warehouse at around 8.30 am. I alerted the Utnoor Fire Station and rushed to the spot,” said the depot manager, Thodasam Prabhu Das. He added that while no casualities were reported, beverages and cases worth rupees 100 crores and 90 crores were damaged.
The depot is a supplier to 114 outlets in Adilabad and large quantities of the same were engulfed by the fire. The store manager switched the power off and was the last to leave the depot on Tuesday night.
Firefighters from Utnoor, Adilabad, Echoda and Jannaram fire stations rushed to the depot to bring the fire under control but were able to do so by evening. The shutters of the depot were opened by officials to let the smoke out.
The manager informed that an inquiry would be set up into the accident and said that the staff conducted monthly maintenance and there was no fault with the wiring. An anonymous worker contradicting the manager informed Telangana Today that while the bills for maintenance were filed, no maintenance work was actually carried out.
“They do not engage professional electricians to rectify faults in wiring and boards. They furnish fake bills and swindle money under the guise of repairs and maintenance of the building,” said the worker.