With just 20 fire tenders for 14 fire and emergency stations across Baramulla district, the department of fire and emergency department is finding it difficult to deal with the growing fire incidents across the district.
Extended over an area of 4190 square kilometre and comprising of over 524 villages, the small number of fire tenders across Baramulla district is proving insufficient to deal with fire incidents. “Baramulla district has over 10 lakh population as per 2011 census, while the proposed population is more than 15 lakhs. For such a densely populated district, merely 20 number of fire tenders is a big joke in the name of disaster management,” says Abdul Rehman, a resident of Baramulla town.
As per officials, there are 4 fire tenders available for Sopore and 3 for Baramulla town. While there is one fire tender each for Sangrama, Pattan, Kunzar, Tangmarg, wanigam, Kreeri, Kachumuqam, Dangiwacha, Rohama, Seelu and Uri area of Baramulla district is available.
The Uri and Pattan area of Baramulla district are facing the brunt of shortage of fire tenders. Uri which is a mountainous region with majority of its population located on higher reaches, just one fire tender is proving to be a big problem for the local residents.
In several incidents of fire in Uri area, scores of structures could have been saved, had there been sufficient number of fire tenders available. In the year 2017, over 50 shops were gutted in a devastating fire which resulted in loss of crores of rupees.
The locals at that time had alleged that the non availability of sufficient number of fire tenders resulted in the huge devastation. “Though fire tenders were brought from Baramulla and Sopore, however, it took them more than one hour to reach to the spot, till then maximum damage was done,” said Mubashir Ahmad a, local resident.
Similarly, in another fire incident, a historical Jamia Masjid, built during the Maharaja’s rule by Sultan Khataie at Bijhama in Uri was gutted in the fire incident. Considered of historical importance, the mosque could have been saved had there been sufficient fire tenders.
“The majority population of Uri area is located in the upper reaches, which is completely mountainous in nature. It is important to add few more fire tenders at different locations so that people living at far flung areas do not face nature’s fury,” said Tasaduq Hussain, a resident of Uri.
Similarly, in Pattan area of Baramulla district which is one of the largest populated areas of district, merely a single fire tender is insufficient. The locals here blame the administration for ignoring the area especially when the prospects of fire incidents in densely populated areas is always high.
“The Pattan area is one of the largest blocks of Baramulla district. The area is densely populated and a single fire tender is always insufficient when there are so many incidents of fire. The authorities need to re-visit their disaster management policy and give some attention to the most ignored part of disaster management initiative in the district,” says Firdous Ahmad, a resident of Mia mohalla Pattan.