Three minor sisters died in a fire incident at Tajniha, Dhanmasta of Ukhral tehsil in Ramsu of Ramban district. The mishap occurred during the intervening night of February 11 and 12. The girls were sleeping in a room of upper storey of their three storeyed house when it caught fire.
As other members of the the families were able to come out, the deceased could not due to the leaping flames. Their family members, neighbours and others watched helplessly as the three sisters were charred to death. Reports said the fire tenders could not reach the spot due to lack of road connectivity.
According to the officials of Fire and Emergency Services Department the affected house was 1.5 km from the nearest road where the fire tenders could reach. The tragic incident has raised many questions. Why there is no road connectivity to the village? Why the network of roads is not spread to all villages and residential areas? Why some villages and residential areas have been left out?
And if villages have roads why people construct houses at places, having no road connectivity. This problems prove fatal during incidents of fire as happened. Lot of roads in villages, towns and even Srinagar city are so narrow that fire tenders can not easily move if the vehicles are coming from opposite direction.
Subsequently, those are not able to reach the spot in time and extinguish the fire. In several areas of old city things become even more problematic in such situations. There is an immediate need to have roads for all residential areas across J&K. The roads must be wide so that the fire tenders do not face any difficulty in their movement.
Among the growing incidents of fire, there is a demand from the people in various areas for fire service stations. According to them whenever there is a fire in their areas, the fire tenders from far off places reach late and till their arrival much damage is done.
The concerned authorities must look into their demand and set up fire stations wherever needed. The people must take precautionary measures to prevent fires. Electric short circuit in buildings is the cause of most fire incidents.
Then using of heating appliances carelessly is the other cause. The occurrence of fire incidents must be prevented. And in case the fire breaks out, the fire fighting operations must be timely and effective to save lives and property.