CHENNAI: Even as the sun shone brightly upon the dry NSC Bose Road, the broad steps of the Bombay Mutual Building were soaked and the entrance to the building under the regal arch was covered with a thick layer of water. Soot lay washed down several flights of stairs, all the way to the third floor of the building, where a fire broke out early on Wednesday.The building, which is at least 60 years old, now houses the offices of the Life Insurance Corporation, and has become the latest in a line of heritage structures in the city to suffer a fire accident in recent months. Thankfully, Fire and Rescue Services Department personnel contained the fire quickly and saved the building from meeting the same fate as the Kalsa Mahal of the Chepauk Palace.Employees of LIC who worked on the third floor, which housed a Development Office of the insurance behemoth stood around peeking into what remained of their offices. False ceiling lay ripped and darkened by the fire, the glass partitions between office cubicles lay blackened and shattered, a bunch of files sat charred on top of a cabinet, chairs were twisted by the heat and computers and an LCD TV sat burnt almost beyond recognition.This fire had a bright side though: it broke out in the early hours of Wednesday, when no one was at work. However, the circumstances have left those who work in the building with a sense of dread for the days ahead.“Data is not a problem. All the information that we have gathered till Tuesday evening will be available on LIC’s centralised database. Even as this office is restored and repaired, LIC has enough space to house all 60 of us so we can get working,” said Rainer, a Development Officer. “But what worries us is that this mishap has come in March, just before the end of the financial year. We will have a lot of catching up to do,” he said.
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