Kolhapur: Machinery, cables, and raw materials worth Rs 4-5 crore were destroyed in a fire at Chhatrapati Rajaram Sugar Mill on Friday morning. The blaze broke out in the crushing section of the mill, but no injuries were reported, reports The Times of India.
The Kolhapur Municipal Corporation (KMC) fire department received an emergency call about the fire around 10:30 AM. In response, six fire tenders from KMC, five private tankers, and fire tenders from nearby municipal councils were dispatched to the site.
“Initial findings suggest that an electrical short circuit triggered the fire. The section contained baggage and oil, which fueled the flames. We first used foam to contain the fire, as oil fires require foam to be extinguished. It took nearly one and a half hours to bring the situation under control, and we successfully prevented the fire from spreading beyond the affected section. However, machinery and materials worth Rs 4-5 crore were damaged,” said an official from the fire department.
Amal Mahadik, BJP MLA and chairman of the factory, stated, “The crushing season had already ended, and annual maintenance work was underway. Since the factory was shut and only a few workers were present, fortunately, no one was injured in the incident.”
Mill officials confirmed that an insurance company will conduct a third-party audit of the damage within the next two to three days. They added that the fire caused significant losses, requiring the replacement of most machinery, including rotary engines and cable networks, before the next crushing season begins.
The mill, located in the Kasba Bawada locality of Kolhapur city, has a crushing capacity of 3,500 tons per day. Established in the 1920s and converted into a cooperative in the 1950s, it currently has 14,000 direct farmer members from Kolhapur and the nearby Sangli district.
