Villagers near Pulgaon ammunition centre return home

Fire brigade personnel with at least 20 tenders that were struggling to extinguish the inferno since Monday midnight finally brought it under control by Tuesday morning

Residents of three nearby villages ---- Agargaon, Nagzhari and Pipla ---- that were evacuated after the devastating fire that broke at Pulgaon ammunition centre in Wardha district on Monday midnight, returned to their respective villages this afternoon.

Villagers were given a temporary shelter at Deoli village where they were provided food packets by the district administration.

A few houses at Agargaon and Nagzhari were partially damaged because of the effect of the explosion of bombs after the fire broke out.

The fire brigade personnel with at least 20 tenders that were struggling to extinguish the inferno since Monday midnight finally brought it under control by Tuesday 11am. Two fire brigade personnel reportedly died while performing their duties, a source said.

The guardian minister of Wardha district Sundhir Mungantiwar and the Maharashtra minister for public health, Deepak Sawant rushed to the spot after the cabinet meeting that was held in Mumbai this morning to take stock of the situation and supervise the relief and rescue operations.

Following the mishap, Fadnavis tweeted: “News of fire at Central Ammunition Depot, Pulgaon, is very unfortunate and disturbing. Spoke to Wardha collector & took stock of the situation.”

“Instructed Wardha collector to provide all required help in this situation. Also asked collectors of the neighbouring districts to be alert,” the chief minister said.