The recent fire incident at Bone & Joint hospital Barzulla followed bya spate of fire incidents in the late evening or mid night hours at Batmaloo and Nigeen necessitates public awareness about fire safety measures both at home and as well as workplaces. The latest fire incident in Nigeen that reduced to ashes several houseboats shows that even houseboats are vulnerable to fire incidents. Though demanding compensation for the fire victims is the only way to rehabilitate those houseboats owners who have lost their houseboats in this fire incidents but compensation won’t stop the re-occurrence of such fire incidents in houseboats in future. Houseboats as we known made of wood and as such are obviously more vulnerable to fire incidents than the hotels but fire safety measures have not been mandatory for registration of houseboats like hotels. The public awareness about fire safety measures as such should revolve around the necessity of the installation of fire extinguishers at both hotels and houses boats. Not only installation of fire extinguishers at hotels and houseboats but training the staffers of the hotels and houseboats about the fire safety measures is equally important. The incidental fires could be controlled only if the staffers at the hotels and houseboats are well trained to use fire extinguishers. In fact it was for the tourism department to insist on fire safety measures in houseboats like hotels to ensure that fire incidents are controlled in short time even at the houseboats. Rather tourism department could have made the installation of fire extinguishers mandatory for registration of houseboats as it is for the hotels. Had the tourism department made the installation of fire extinguishers mandatory for the registration of houseboats the occurrence of Nigeen like fire incidents could have been obviously averted.
Keeping in view the unprecedented increase in the frequency of fire incidents during late evening and midnight hours only a fire safety management policy would ensure fire safety at both the houseboats and hotels. Fire safety management policy is not suited to fire safety only at hotels, houseboats and hospitals but it is equally suited for the fire safety of commercial complexes, shopping malls and places of greater public attraction in both cities and towns.
Rising fire incidents in Kashmir valley necessitates the importance of a fire safety management policy at commercial centres and delay on this count would only see such fire incidents occurring and reoccurring season after season and year after year at key commercial centres of Srinagar and major towns of Kashmir valley. Keeping in view the unprecedented increase in the frequency of fire incidents during late evening and midnight hours only a fire safety management policy would ensure fire safety at both the houseboats and hotels. Fire safety management policy is not suited to fire safety only at hotels, houseboats and hospitals but it is equally suited for the fire safety of commercial complexes, shopping malls and places of greater public attraction in both cities and towns.
