By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Dec 9: In a concerning trend, the state government seems oblivious to the lessons from a series of fire incidents, starting with the 131-year-old KJP School’s complete destruction. The frequency of both major and minor fire outbreaks has escalated, with incidents occurring practically every day.
Most recently, the flour factory on Luckier Road had fallen victim to flames, resulting in complete devastation, so did a house in Mawpat. Fortunately, there were no casualties.
However, the Singhania Building in Jail Road that was gutted earlier wasn’t as fortunate, claiming one life.
It took the Fire and Emergency Services (F&ES) department over two days, with assistance from other agencies, to fully extinguish the flames.
Inspector General of Police, Francis G Kharshiing, acknowledged the surge in fire incidents while speaking to The Shillong Times, but attributed it to the winter season.
Limited disaster management resources were a crucial factor in the delayed response to the KJP School fire. The fire tenders were engaged in extinguishing a fire in Pynthorumkhrah as per news reports, following which they had to refill and then head to the KJP School, in Mawkhar.
Acknowledging the challenges, Kharshiing revealed that the F&ES is proposing the installation of fire hydrants in densely populated areas, particularly marketplaces inaccessible to large tenders.
This initiative aims to provide immediate firefighting capabilities, utilising water sources on-site until reinforcements arrive.
“We are on high alert and these fire incidents are not strange as we keep on dealing with these fire incidents at least once or twice in a week,” Kharshiing added.
Given the narrow roads in the hilly city, the necessity for mini fire tenders is evident to navigate quickly.
Encouragingly, the central government has approved the department’s proposal for around 15 mini fire tenders.