Owais Gul
Srinagar, Dec 4: With the onset of winter season in Kashmir, the fire incidents have witnessed a rise in the summer capital of Jammu & Kashmir, Srinagar where 53 incidents have been reported in the month of November 2023.
According to an official data prepared by the Fire and Emergency Services (F&ES) department, 53 fire incidents have been reported across Srinagar in the month of November.
The highest number of fire incidents were reported on November 21, adding that five incidents were reported on the particular date at Gojwara Chowk, SKIMS Soura, Polo View, Bakshipora Palpora and Wazir Bagh here.
Pertinently, the number of fire incidents always goes up during the winter period in Kashmir.
However, the officials said that the number of incidents compared to the previous years have declined after the concerned department organized the awareness events and programmes across the Valley in a bid to sensitize the people about the measures.
Deputy Director F&ES Commandant Srinagar, Aqib Ahmad Mir said that the preparations by the department are always equal during summers as well as in winters, but during the winter months, the alertness remains high in wake of the frequent fire incidents. “We keep the men and machinery at the disposal during the winter months,” he said.
“The number of fire incidents cannot be reduced at the level of Fire and Emergency Services, but at the level of the general public. It has been observed that the use of Bukharis, heaters and other heating gadgets are the primary sources of fire incidents during winters. Until and unless the people will not use the gadgets judiciously, the situation cannot be tackled; the people must follow dos and don’ts while using such gadgets,” he said.
“The general public has an immense role in this regard and taking the safety measures should be their top priority,” he added.
Asked about the measures taken by the department to reduce the fire incidents, he said F&ES has organized thousands of awareness events and programmes across Jammu and Kashmir so far, which has helped in reducing the number of such incidents.
“If we see the previous figures, the fire incidents have gone up to even 2900 in one year, but this year such incidents have reduced by nearly 20-30 per cent as 1900 cases were reported till October this year,” he said.
He further stated that the fire can be controlled at the initial stage, but only if the people are aware about the techniques and other related things. “The people should keep a small fire extinguisher at their home, which costs nearly Rs 2000 only so that the fire can be controlled at the first instance and the major tragedy can be averted,” he added.
