Mantralaya fire: State admin will rise from ashes like phoenix, says CM

Maharashtra government's administration will rise like the proverbial Phoenix from the ashes of the massive fire which engulfed Mantralaya, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan said in Mumbai on Saturday.

Chavan made the statement after inspecting the building in the evening, an official release said.

Efforts will be made to shift the offices of CM and Dy CM, presently on the sixth floor, to the first or second floor, he said.

The interim structural audit report has shown that the offices and items on the first three floors of Mantralaya are intact, the chief minister said, adding there should be no problems in shifting the offices there.

Meanwhile, in a TV interview, Chavan said the fire has damaged 30% departments and as a result, difficulties may be faced in their functioning.

Around 2000 computers in the building have been damaged in the blaze but efforts are on to recover data from the hard disks, he added.