The Bokaro steel plant management on Monday ordered a high level inquiry into a sudden fire in a hot strip mill of the plant late on Sunday evening that resulted in losses to the tune of crores of rupees.
Though there were about 300 workers present at the spot when the fire broke out around 9pm, no one was injured as the staff managed to escape on time.
The fire was first noticed in the running cable of the hot strip mill. It then spread to the electrical panel and then to the switch room where two transformers were gutted.
The blaze brought work at the hot strip mill to a complete halt and it took the authorities more than 12 hours to start production again around 9.45am on Monday.
According to a senior plant official, the mill where the fire broke out produces 5,600 tonnes of quality steel in 12 hours.
It took fire engines more than an hour to bring the blaze under control.
Speaking to The Telegraph, Bokaro steel plant chief of communications Sanjay Tewary said a probe has started into the reason behind the fire.
Tewary said the quantum of loss would only be known once technical experts carried out a probe and assessed the extent of damage. While losses were expected to run into crores of rupees, the exact figure had not been ascertained yet.
