Jammu, March 15: Expressing his grave concern over the fire incidence that took away four lives and left fifteen others injured in a narrow lane in Residency Road area, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) J&K Executive Member Raman Suri today asked the Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) and department of fire services to carry out an extensive fire safety audit of all such places that are being run from homes in narrow streets and violating building by-laws and safety measures.
Raman Suri, while seeking help for the injured in terms of medical aid and financial help for kith and kin of those who lost their lives, hailed Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha’s announcement for providing adequate compensation. He added that there are many streets in old Jammu City that need to be widened for the safety of people, especially when fire tenders don’t reach deep into these steets to deal with such unprecedented situations of fire or even earthquake. The JMC or PWD must identify such places and find a way out before its too late.
He said, there is a dire need of carrying out a fire safety audit of all city bazars and other commercial establishments to save previous lives. A causal approach and incident specific actions won’t do much but an action on the ground is needed. He said, there are godowns being run from homes located deep inside city streets without any authorization or safety concerns, which can prove to be quite hazardous.
Urging Lieutenant Governor (LG) Manoj Sinha to ask PWD and JMC to widen some city streets so that fire tenders can reach deep inside the city areas, Raman Suri said, the widened roads will also help free movement of people and vehicles besides make way for ambulances and fire tenders. He said, many are even selling acids, educational materials and other articles used in schools from their homes located in deep and narrow streets, where students and teachers frequently shop from but without any safety such places are prone to accidents.
Raman Suri, while lauding the efforts of Fire & Emergency Services, JKP Officers and Local people for their swift action, said that their timely action in preventing the fire from spreading further in the locality is applaudable. He said, it is high time that a fire safety audit is carried out, keepers of hazardous material are identified, homes that are operating such businesses without permission are sealed and others are asked to adopt all safety measures so that precious lives can be saved.
