Kolkata: A fire broke out at the Meghnad Saha Hall residence on the IIT-Kharagpur campus on Tuesday evening. Timely intervention by the authority and evacuation avoided any fatal incident.
The Meghnad Saha Hall of residence experienced a fire due to a malfunction in the internet cable box located at the W4 block. Flames were swiftly extinguished by the internal firefighting system. One official said, "We are relieved that no one was injured and only the walls suffered damage." A section of the students raised concerns over it.
"All the boarders were taken out of the building as soon as the fire broke out. Rooms and corridors were filled with smoke, and flames could spread if it was not swiftly extinguished. This incident is a reminder of the importance of regular maintenance and safety checks for all electrical systems," a boarder said.
A student said, "Though it was not a major fire, it still brings to the fore the lacunae in maintenance and lack of sufficient and up-to-date fire extinguishers."
Meghnad Saha Hall Residence is an old hall compared to some others on the campus.
Last year, a fire also broke out in the students' common room of Lal Bahadur Shastri Hall. After a year, another fire incident raised concern among students and faculty as well.