Apart from the inspections conducted by the Fire and Rescue Services Department, the Special Branch wing of the city police is also carrying out a comprehensive fire audit on S.M. Street as part of the efforts to find out even micro-level safety violations in the area. The audit report, being prepared in the wake of the latest fire outbreak on the street, will be ready in a week.
Assistant Commissioner (Special Branch) A. Umesh, who heads the auditing process, says the report will be submitted to District Police Chief (Kozhikode city) A.V. George. The main aim of the process is to make trades accountable for safety issues and address them without any delay, he adds.
Based on the report, there will also be recommendations for legal action against traders if they are held responsible for violations. The whole street has been divided into different zones for carrying out the inspection and covering all the shops in a phased manner.
After reviewing the study report, there are also plans to summon traders who have been found responsible for serious safety rule violations. The department is conducting the drive as part of converting the street into a safe zone for both traders and customers.
“We will also contact departments concerned for corrective measures. It is a well-planned job to save the street from bigger fire outbreaks,” says Mr. Umesh. He also points out that there will be interventions on the part of the authorities to support the traders’ community.
In the previous audits carried out by fire officials, serious violations had been found on the part of some traders who failed to install fire safety equipment in their shops. The conversion of fire safety area into an additional storage space for dumping stock has also been noticed in several places, which were later cleared following the warnings of checking squads.
Leaders of trade unions and merchant organisations are also in support of the audit as it is meant to improve the fire safety measures on the street. Responding to the suggestions of the police, many traders, who were earlier hesitant to improve fire safety systems, have changed their mind and started fitting equipment in their shops.
