Srinagar, July 31: The summer capital Srinagar is witnessing a surge in fire incidents and in the first six months of the year the city has reported 218 fire incidents in which hundreds of structures were gutted.
According to official data, the city has witnessed 48 fire incidents in the first month of this year and 32 fire incidents were reported in February while 41, 31, 32 and 32 respectively in the months of March, April, May and June.
The officials of Fire and Emergency said there are various reasons for the rise in the fire incidents in Srinagar and added that "most of the incidents are taking place due to negligence of the people and owning no fire gaps in the city."
A senior officer said during the construction of buildings and houses the people are not following the procedure, and added, "they are not following the fire and emergency guidelines."
"When people start the construction of the building, they get permission from some departments but they need to get permission from the Fire and Emergency department as well which they are not getting and we don’t have the power to seal the building," he said.
A local resident of the old city Srinagar told Rising Kashmir that fire incidents in the city are a matter of concern and added that "there should be a proper mechanism so that these fire incidents in the city can be averted."
He further said, “It takes a lifetime to build a house and when it is on fire it takes a few minutes for the fire to destroy the whole house."
A senior official of the fire and emergency department speaking to Rising Kashmir said that maximum fire incidents in the city are being reported in winters as people are storing various things for heating purposes, like, LPG, Fire woods, Live charcoal and other things.
The officer said that sometimes due to negligence of the people, fire incidents are taking place.
Reyaz Ahmad of Batmaloo told Rising Kashmir, the fire incidents in the summer capital are alarming which need immediate attention and concerned departments should provide awareness to the people on how to control the fire at the initial stage.
Deputy Director Fire and emergency Bashir Ahmad Shah while talking to Rising Kashmir said the fire incidents in Kashmir valley are decreasing, adding if we talk about the previous year the city has reported 488 fire incidents.
Shah also said that most of the fire incidents are erupting due to short-circuit and due to negligence of people and added when a fire in any place the people are not cooperating with the department which is leading to huge losses during the fire.
"People are parking their vehicles, and are putting construction material on the roadside which often gives tough times to fire vehicles to reach the spot," he said.
The officer appealed to people to cooperate in emergencies and desist from parking vehicles on the roadside and avoid construction material on the roadside which often create obstacles in reaching the spots.