A major safety lapse at the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) headquarters triggered panic on Wednesday afternoon after a lift malfunction left around 10 people trapped for nearly 30 minutes.
Sequence of Events
The incident occurred around 3:30 pm when the lift suddenly stalled between the first and second floor. The situation worsened as a simultaneous power outage hit the building, and the backup generator also failed, plunging the lift into complete shutdown. With no ventilation and rising heat, those trapped inside — including staff and visitors — were left sweating and anxious.
Rescue Operation
Fire brigade personnel rushed to the spot and carried out a rescue operation, safely evacuating all occupants. However, the incident has exposed glaring gaps in maintenance, emergency preparedness, and infrastructure reliability at the civic body's own headquarters.
Systemic Failures
Questions are now being raised over how both the primary power supply and backup systems failed at the same time in a critical administrative building. The episode has intensified concerns over the condition of essential equipment and the lack of routine safety audits.
Demand for Action
Corporator Abhijeet Jha, who was present during the incident, demanded an immediate safety audit of all lifts, a probe into the failure, and installation of upgraded hi-tech lifts with auto-rescue and robust backup systems.
This incident underscores the urgent need for comprehensive safety reviews and infrastructure upgrades in public buildings to prevent such occurrences in the future.
