A fire broke out near the entry ticket counter of the famed Mysuru Palace on Friday and damaged the guard room and an ATM kiosk.
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The fire was noticed around 6 a.m. and the fire services received the call at 6.15 a.m. following which two vehicles including a rapid response unit rushed to the spot and doused the blazing flames.
A senior department personnel Mr. Gururaj told The Hindu that the fire was caused due to electrical short circuit and the ticket counter on the right side of the main entrance adjoining the Ganapathi Temple was badly damaged.
“It took us nearly 15 to 20 minutes to extinguish the fire. Our personnel had to work carefully as false ceiling inside the heritage structure was also collapsing due to heat,” he added.
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It is learnt that the security personnel near the palace entrance had woken up for the day and had were taking a stroll outside when the fire broke out. A mattress and a cot inside the room was gutted but providentially there was no loss of life as the guards were not inside.
Besides, rifles and other weapons were also stored inside, but the fire personnel and the security guards managed to retrieve them before they could be damaged. In addition, wireless sets were retrieved with minor damages from the site, according to Mr. Gururaj.
The ATM kiosk belonging to a public sector bank and installed near the security guard room at the Varaha Gate side has also been damaged and it is now out of bounds. The Mysuru Palace attracts about 3.5 million tourists every year but the entry to the palace is from 10 a.m. and hence there were no tourists in the vicinity when the fire broke out. Besides, the main palace is about 200 to 300 metres from the site of fire and hence there was no question of any damage to the palace itself. Though the Palace Board was informed of the imperatives of rewiring and replacing the electrical systems as they were old and had worn out or were damaged, there was no response from them, said the Fire Officer. He also expressed concern over lack of any fire extinguishing equipment let alone a full-fledged fire station to handle such emergencies at the palace.
The incident assumes significance as the existing palace itself was constructed in place of an earlier wooden palace which was completely gutted in a major fire in 1897.