Mantralaya fire: Death toll at 5, Nasscom to help recover data

Mumbai: Maharashtra Government will seek help from IT body Nasscom, cyber cell and even foreign experts to recover data from computer hard disks damaged in the fire which gutted top floors of Mantralaya.

The announcement was made by Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan after a meeting of the state cabinet held at Vidhan Bhawan to review the mishap.

“We will try to restore hard disks and recover data from them. We will seek help of Nasscom, cyber cell and even foreign experts,” Chavan said.

He also said that all files pertaining to the Adarsh scam have been handed over to CBI, so there was no question of it affecting the probe.

“There may have been lacunae in fire safety systems, we will look into it,” he said. The ministers have been asked to cancel their tours and supervise work of restoring documents in their office, he said.

A special meeting of Maharashtra Cabinet is underway to review the situation in the aftermath of the fire. Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, who has announced a crime branch probe into the incident, is chairing the meeting being held at Vidhan Bhawan.

Two more bodies were today recovered from the fire-ravaged Maharashtra government secretariat taking the death toll to five even as Mumbai Police registered a case of accidental death in the incident.

Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar visited Mantralaya this morning and reviewed the work in progress to cool off the seven-storeyed building.

Pawar told reporters that the Chief Minister’s office on the sixth floor has remained comparatively unscathed by the fire which had gutted nearby offices.

NCP leader Sharad Pawar today met Chavan and his Cabinet colleagues and took stock of the situation in the wake of the devastating fire at the state secretariat.

The Union Agriculture Minister, whose party NCP is a member of the ruling alliance in the state, was closeted with Chavan and his Ministers at Vidhan Bhavan situated close to the Secretariat in South Mumbai since this morning.

Chavan had earlier said files, which have been recovered from offices, will be stored in steel trunks. He said hard disk of damaged computers will be retrieved.

A large number of files were also destroyed, including that of Urban Development department which is embroiled in the Adarsh housing scam involving several top politicians, bureaucrats and ex-army officials, raising questions on whether any sabotage was the cause.

PTI