'Mantralaya blaze was disaster waiting to happen'

The blaze at Mantralaya that has so far claimed five lives and destroyed several official documents could have been averted if the state government had heeded fire audit warnings two years ago, a leading RTI activist has claimed.

In a letter to Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan and leaders of Opposition, Vihar Durve said that in April 2009, he had written to then Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, specifically intimating the dangers of accidental fire in the Mantralaya.

"We also demand that you along with Ashok Chavan other officers take up the responsibility of the blaze that engulfed Mantralaya yesterday," Durve said.

"It is surprising that the Adarsh file and RTI Amendment files are cleared in a very short period of time but when it comes to the safety of ordinary people, the concerned file doesn't move even an inch," he said.