Black smoke rises behind North Block near Parliament in Delhi, fire tenders rushed to spot

Thick black smoke was seen rising from the rear of North Block, close to Parliament in the national capital, on Monday morning. The sight caused alarm across the area and raised questions about security once again. Fire tenders were rushed to the spot immediately.

Shiv Sena (Shinde faction) MP Milind Deora was on his way to Parliament when he saw dense smoke rising from behind North Block. He posted on social media expressing concern. In his post, he wrote that while heading to Parliament he saw thick smoke rising from behind North Block and that it appeared a fire had broken out there. He said he hoped everyone was safe and that the emergency services would act swiftly. After Deora's post, there was a flurry of activity across the administration.

On receiving the information, the Delhi Fire Service acted at once and sent water tenders to the spot. However, no official information has emerged so far on the nature of the fire or which building or structure it has affected. There is no report of anyone being killed or injured in the incident.

North Block is a key government building in New Delhi and is considered extremely sensitive from the security point of view. Major government offices of the country, such as the Home Ministry and the Finance Ministry, function from here. The area is part of the Central Vista project and is very close to Parliament House. With smoke suddenly seen rising in such a heavily guarded area, all security agencies have gone on high alert.

For now, the picture on the cause of the fire and the damage is unclear. Fire tenders are at the spot and efforts to bring the fire under control are continuing.