A major fire accident in the main building of the Madras High Court Bench here was averted on Friday due to swift action of court employees who used extinguishers to douse the blaze that caught cables right inside an electric panel room close to the court hall of Justice Nooty Ramamohana Rao, the administrative judge of the Bench.
The incident occurred during lunch break. Immediately, power supply to the entire was cut off. Among the earliest to the reach the spot was Mr. Justice Rao himself. Stating that he saw the cables burning, the judge asked the Registrar (Administration) H. Elavazhagan to summon the Superintending Engineer of Public Works Department and conduct a thorough inspection of the electrical lines in the building. “This is the second incident in the last two months. What will happen if something major occurs?” he told the Registrar.
Court staff said that he had also taken serious note of frequent malfunctioning of elevators and the decrepit condition of almost all judges’ bungalows.
“The judge had pulled up the officials and asked how come the buildings could get worn out within 12 years of their construction,” a court official said.
The mega electrical bells fixed on the walls near the court halls could not be rung at 2.15 p.m. to announce the end of recess on Friday since it took sometime for the electricians to restore power. Hence, the court staff rang a manual bell.
