Mantralaya, Mumbai

building in Mumbai

Mantralaya is the administrative headquarters of the state government of Maharashtra in South Mumbai, built in 1955.

Mantralaya was earlier known as Sachivalaya. (Sachiv- Secretary, Alaya- House, meaning House of Secretaries, situated in caleed Secretariat). Most state governments in India headquarters' are known as Secretariats. However, since Ministers (Mantri in Marathi) also sit in the same building and to underline the fact that Ministers are powerful in a democracy, the name was changed to Mantralaya in the early eighties.

Mantralaya is a seven storeyed building which houses most of the departments of the state government in this building. The Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister sit on the sixth floor. The Chief Secretary, sits on the fifth floor. Due to an increasing number of departments and staff, a new "annexe" building was built.^[1] Also, a new administrative building of 13 floors was constructed opposite Mantralaya to accommodate additional departments.

2012 Fire

On 21 June 2012 a fire broke out at the building. As per the preliminary report, the fire was caused due to an electric wire short circuit.^[2] 5 people died, 20 were injured and hundreds of files were destroyed in the fire.^[3]

2013 Fire

On 9 March 2013, at 11:40 am, another large fire broke out on the 4th floor of Mantralaya. As per preliminary reports, the fire was caused by a short circuit, which caused the chemicals being used for its renovation to catch fire.^[4]

References

1. "Mumbai Mantralaya makeover to cost 138 cr". Retrieved 19 June 2013.
2. Deshmukh, Ravikiran (June 2012). "How Mantralaya failed it's trial by fire". Mid-Day. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
3. "Mantralaya fire: 5 dead, 20 injured; CM's office gutted". 22 June 2012.
4. News service, Express (9 March 2013). "Fire breaks out at 4th floor of Mantralaya". Indian Express. Retrieved 26 November 2013.