A fire broke out at the laddu-manufacturing potu (kitchen) situated outside the temple of Lord Venkateswara in the small hours of Friday. Thick clouds of smoke billowed into the space and the roof sheets above the complex were partly damaged. Fire-tenders rushed to the spot and brought the fire under control. The top echelons of the management, including Executive Officer D. Sambasiva Rao and JEO K.S. Srinivasa Raju, rushed to the spot and supervised the fire-fighting exercise which lasted over 30 minutes.
A major mishap was averted with the timely deployment of fire extinguishers by the potu workers even before the arrival of the fire-tenders.
Fortunately, no one was injured in the incident.
Initial reports suggested that several containers of ingredients used in the preparation of boondi – the main component in the preparation of laddu – were damaged when water jet were used by the fire personnel.
Dr. Rao ruled out at any interruption in the supply of laddus. “We have a buffer stock of 5.90-lakh laddus to meet the pilgrims demand and as such the question of disruption in the supply doesn’t arise at all.”
He told The Hindu over phone that only boondi production had been temporarily hit. The cleansing operations inside the kitchen were in full swing and laddu production would start during the day, he said. Initial findings suggest the accumulation of ghee deposits in the exhaust fans could have led to the fire, he said. “The production was yet to take off on a full scale and the kitchen workers were just arriving when the unfortunate incident took place. There are no causalities and the loss of property is also minimum.
“The over-roof (aluminium composite board) sheets covering the kitchen hall which got partly damaged will be replaced by evening.”
