Houseboats are no doubt sources of attraction for tourists in Kashmir valley and more so at the famed Dal Lake in Srinagar but gutting of the house boats in devastating fire incidents last winter and early this summer show that house boats are too much vulnerable to accidental fires more so in winter and as such fire safety audit of the houseboats too is a bigger concern. Not only the fire safety audit but awareness about fire safety measures for the houseboat owners also deserves immediate attention and intervention of the top public functionaries of the tourism and Fire & Emergency Services departments. Though demanding compensation for the fire victims is the only way to rehabilitate those houseboats owners who loose their houseboats in this fire incidents but fire safety audits and awareness campaigns on fire safety measures for the houseboat owners are obviously the only two ways to stop occurrence and re-occurrence of accidental fires during winters and early summer months March and April. Houseboats as we know are made of wood and as such are obviously more vulnerable to fire incidents than the hotels but neither fire safety measures have been made mandatory for registration of houseboats like hotels nor fire safety audit is mandatory for houseboats and hotels in Kashmir valley. 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 accidental 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 and Fire & Emergency Service departments 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 fire incidents inside house boats at Nigeen would have been averted early this year.
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.
It won’t be out of place to mention here that rising fire incidents in Kashmir valley otherwise also necessitate the importance of a fire safety management policy not only inside houseboats and hotels but also at commercial centres and delay on this count would only see fire incidents occurring and reoccurring season after season and year after year inside houseboats, hotels, and 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.
