KOCHI: The gaping holes in fire safety preparedness on the busy Broadway have come under the scanner of the State Disaster Management Authority.
The agency is expected to soon chalk out a plan to improve the fire management system on the busy stretch after the Ernakulam division of the Department of Fire and Rescue Services reported that the street would be highly vulnerable in case of a major fire.
According to the department, the area lacked adequate fire extinguishers, sprinklers, and permanent fixed fire exits. A mere spark is enough for an inferno on the stretch, fuelled by dry clothes, paper, and wood stocked inside shops or dumped in careless heaps, it said.
A safety audit by the department had pointed out that the narrow and congested roads prevented the entry of more than one fire tender in an emergency, while the region lacked water hydrants that are supposed to be located in strategic areas along the street to aid the quick response of the fire brigade in the event of a fire outbreak.
Moreover, fire tenders will not be able to enter a fire site, thanks to lack of adequate parking space. The lack of pavement space and absence of water storage also remain bottlenecks. The absence of fire escape routes and setback area add to the existing woes.
The officials found textile materials being stocked along emergency exit routes and staircases in shops, blocking the smooth passage of people in case of an emergency. Such materials were also found stocked near electrical circuits. According to them, most traders have not installed fire-fighting equipment in accordance with government norms.
Incidentally, the Fire Department had many a time alerted the Kochi Corporation to the “unwillingness” of shop owners to follow fire safety norms.
