CHENNAI: A major fire broke out at the BSNL's Anna Salai Telephone Exchange on Saturday, which kept the fire and rescue services personnel engaged for over seven hours. While no persons were injured in the fire, BSNL services were affected in the city and across Tamil Nadu and neighbouring states.
Around 9.30 am, security personnel noticed thick smoke billowing from the second floor of the seven-storey building and alerted the fire control. Over a dozen fire tenders and 150 firefighters rushed to the scene and carried out firefighting operations, which lasted close to eight hours. One person working in the building was trapped initially, but was safely rescued, police said.
A senior TNFRS (Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Services) official said the fire originated on the second floor and several telecommunication equipment and batteries were damaged. "Smoke spread to the third, fourth and fifth floors, too, but they were not occupied and only painting materials were stored there," the official said. BSNL sources said that the fire gutted the property on all the floors.
Internet and communication services at city and state police headquarters, 108 ambulance services and the electricity board were affected because of the fire.
"Due to the fire at Anna Salai exchange, helpline services of Tamil Nadu Power Distribution Corporation (TNPDCL) are down. Online application services, bill payment, and counter payment facilities are currently affected due to technical reasons and working on it," said TNPCDL.
A probe is underway to identify the cause of fire, with authorities leaning towards the possibility of a battery explosion.
BSNL issued a statement saying, "Senior officers from Chennai Telephones were present on-site to oversee rescue measures and restoration of services. The incident impacted mobile voice and data services in Chennai, the rest of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana, and affected calls to other operators and emergency services. Emergency services and calls to other operators have been restored. Voice and data services in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and the rest of Tamil Nadu have been restored, while services in Chennai are partially restored and restoration work is ongoing. The cause of the fire is under investigation."
Putting the blame on the management, CK Mathivanan, national president, National Federation of Telecom Employees (BSNL), said, "This is the second time this exchange has met with a fire accident."
"The basic services were affected in our area due to the network issues. We were not able to order anything online as the OTP was connected to the BSNL number, which was non-functional. And there was no power for more than three hours, and the electricity department remained non-reachable all day," said T Sadagopan, a Pattabiram resident.