The devastating fire at the 200-year-old National Museum in Rio de Janeiro that gutted almost 90 per cent of its 20 million artefacts sparks concern about the vulnerability of Indian Museum, a similarly old institution with a collection of 1.08 lakh. The Indian Museum is more than 200 years old and the grand old building on Chowringhee where it is housed is aged 143. “The firefighting equipment at the museum is not at par with the sophisticated devices of present times,” said the director, Rajesh Purohit. A fire audit is yet to be carried out at the Indian Museum. The fire brigade had asked for the maps of the museum which were provided, according to the museum authorities.

Source: The Telegraph September 27, 2018 09:00 UTC