Jew Street, Broadway sit on a powder keg

No safety measures in place at busiest locations in city

The blaze that erupted at a shopping mall in Palarivattom on Tuesday has raised questions on the safety of some of the busiest locations in Kochi, which, according to the Fire and Rescue Services Department, are on the verge of witnessing a major fire accident.

For instance, the Jew Town in Mattancherry and the Broadway market are highly prone to fire accidents with no adequate safety measures in place. A safety audit report by the department last year attributed the risk to factors varying from unauthorised construction and extensions to unsafe storage of waste materials.

As per the report, several of the nearly 700 shops in the Jew Street area have unsafe electrical wiring and installation, and combustible materials were used for their construction, in addition to the lack of first-aid fire-fighting equipment. Further, the road inside the street is narrow and often witnesses bumper-to-bumper traffic that it has become difficult for the fire brigade to reach the location in case of a fire accident.

Similarly, the department also prepared a map of the Broadway market area in the heart of the city based on a separate fire safety audit. The survey found eight access points to the market though the access and exit provisions are quite inadequate. The market has no alarm systems in place. The reckless parking of vehicles also impedes the movement of fire brigade.

“We have submitted a report in this direction to the Director General (Fire and Rescue Services) for consideration of the State government. Further, the city corporation has also been apprised of the situation,” said R. Prasad, Divisional Officer, Fire and Rescue Services, Ernakulam.

The market places apart, officials also pointed to the case of a multiplex operating inside a shopping mall in the heart of Kochi without fire safety clearance.

Commenting on the issue, Mayor Soumini Jain said the mall was granted occupancy certificate following a court directive. “We have noticed cases of some builders obtaining occupancy clearance, and taking risky deviations from the approved building plan and breaching safety guidelines. There is an urgent need to carry out inspections in buildings, including shopping malls, to find out such violations,” she said.