<p>Equipment costing a few crores at Mulwad Lift Irrigation Project’s (MLIP) pump house at Baluti village near Alamatti in Vijayapura district were destroyed in a major fire mishap on Saturday.</p>.<p>The fire, suspected to have been triggered due to electric short-circuit, broke out around 3 pm. Firemen in six fire tenders doused the fire after three hours of operation. Four bikes were also gutted in the mishap. </p>.<p>The pump house was not functioning for the last three years as the water release had been stopped.</p>.<p>“As per preliminary report, rats that had cut cables into pieces triggered the short-circuit leading to the mishap,” Krishna Bhagya Jala Nigam Ltd (KBJNL) executive engineer Bharat Kambale told <span class="italic">DH</span>.</p>.<p>There was a huge thud followed by explosion. Workers ran out to safety. Within no time, the pump house plunged into thick clouds of smoke and flames.</p>.<p>There are 28 motors each with 1500 HP capacity.Starters, cables and HT panels of 23 motors and two major transformers have been gutted. </p>.<p>The MLIP is a major component of the Upper Krishna Project (UKP), while the pump house is on the out skirts of the Alamatti reservoir.</p>
<p>Equipment costing a few crores at Mulwad Lift Irrigation Project’s (MLIP) pump house at Baluti village near Alamatti in Vijayapura district were destroyed in a major fire mishap on Saturday.</p>.<p>The fire, suspected to have been triggered due to electric short-circuit, broke out around 3 pm. Firemen in six fire tenders doused the fire after three hours of operation. Four bikes were also gutted in the mishap. </p>.<p>The pump house was not functioning for the last three years as the water release had been stopped.</p>.<p>“As per preliminary report, rats that had cut cables into pieces triggered the short-circuit leading to the mishap,” Krishna Bhagya Jala Nigam Ltd (KBJNL) executive engineer Bharat Kambale told <span class="italic">DH</span>.</p>.<p>There was a huge thud followed by explosion. Workers ran out to safety. Within no time, the pump house plunged into thick clouds of smoke and flames.</p>.<p>There are 28 motors each with 1500 HP capacity.Starters, cables and HT panels of 23 motors and two major transformers have been gutted. </p>.<p>The MLIP is a major component of the Upper Krishna Project (UKP), while the pump house is on the out skirts of the Alamatti reservoir.</p>