CHENNAI: A fine example of Indo-Saracenic style of architecture, Agurchand Mansion is among the 120 buildings listed in the Justice E Padmanabhan Committee Report, 2008, as a heritage structure in central Chennai. No wonder, a fire that broke out on Thursday in the warehouse of S Chand and Company Limited, located on the first floor of the mansion, led to much disquiet.Justice E Padmanabhan Committee was constituted by the Madras High Court to identify spots of “historical importance, aesthetic value and popular places of worship” in the city following a hue and cry over the erstwhile DMK government’s proposal to demolish the Gokhale Hall and Rajaji Hall. Of the total 467 structures — listed area-wise as north, central and south Chennai and graded on the basis of their importance by the panel — the red brickstone building on Anna Salai is one of the popular and vintage landmarks. The fire comes barely 10 days after a blaze brought down government offices at Ezhilagam complex, another heritage structure, on Kamarajar Salai. Constructed by the “Madras family of Agurchands,” probably over a century ago, Agurchand Mansion is now “owned by two or three brothers”, according to S Chand and Company’s assistant regional manager T Rajalingam. He said the firm had leased the 2,900 sq ft area on the first floor close to 50 years ago. “There are 21 staff. We store some two to three lakh books here,” Rajalingam added.The building also houses an arts emporium, an Aavin outlet, a detective agency and other commercial units. Unlike the January 16 inferno, firefighters succeeded in quickly containing the flames, despite the presence of tonnes of highly inflammable material.As in the case of Ezhilagam fire, electrical leak is suspected to have caused the blaze. Fire officer Veeramani also conceded that Agurchand Mansion was well-maintained.ACP (Triplicane) S Senthil Kumaran said a case of accidental fire had been registered.
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