A fire broke out at the laddu-manufacturing potu (kitchen), situated outside the Tirumala temple of Lord Venkateshwara in the small hours of Friday. Thick clouds of smoke billowed into the space and roof sheets above the complex were partly damaged. Fire-tenders rushed to the spot and brought the fire under control.
Officers of TTD, 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.
Mishap avertedA 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 hurt in the incident.
Dr. Rao ruled out 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.” He told The Hindu over phone that boondi production had been temporarily hit. Cleaning of the kitchen was in full swing and laddu production would resume soon, he said.
Initial findings suggested that 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 incident took place The actual cause of fire will be known only after the submission of the final report on the incident.”
