news details |
|
|
| Arson, tremors fail to shed political insensitivity | | No legislations to ensure fire, quake safety | | Abodh Sharma
Jammu, June 4: Repeated incidents of arson witnessed in Jammu in the last few days that claimed several lives besides heavy losses to property have brought to the fore the insensitivity of the government towards pressing need of a comprehensive legislation that would make it mandatory for the private builders and construction agencies of the government to adhere to the fire and seismic safety norms in the state.
The incidents of arson in a garment showroom in Choughan Fattu, a hotel in bus stand and another hotel in Katra in less than a fortnight have jolted the residents out of their usual complacency and contentment and they are squaring up to the need of such regulations, but unfortunately, the government of the day is busy making populist announcements in a desperate bid to regain power in the coming assembly elections and no serious deliberations have been spared for the cause that could effect a million lives.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah ordered an inquiry into the arson in the bus stand hotel that belonged to his own party colleague after the visit of his provincial president Devendra Rana and his Cabinet colleague Ajay Sadhotra, but failed to comprehend pressing need for a legislation to ensure fire safety norms at least in commercial buildings.
Besides increasing incidents of fire due to poor power infrastructure, increasing load on the fragile power distribution system, complacency and lack of security awareness amongst masses, the entire state is fraught with peril of earthquake as the region falls in high probability seismic zone.
However, the department of remote sensing of the state government has not been able to remotely sense the need for legislation that would make it mandatory for any new construction to get a clearance from the department of Fire and Emergency Services with regards to fire and seismic security.
"The department has underlined the need for a stringent legislation to the government several times, but the government has its own priorities" said a senior officer of the department, now retired. "In view of the fact that high rise residential and commercial buildings have started to come up in both Jammu and Srinagar, the need for such a legislation is more than ever before" he added.
It is pertinent to mention that there is no legal binding on public and private builders to incorporate safety norms in their buildings and they conveniently ignore them to make higher profits, in the process risking many innocent lives. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
