news details |
|
|
| Massive fire at Bone and Joint Hospital exposes LG admin again | | Non- implementation of Fire Safety Act reason behind gutting of premier health institute? | | Early Times Report
Jammu, Mar 5: The recent massive fire incident at Kashmir’s Bone and Joints Hospital has exposed once again the non-serious approach of the LG administration in implementing the Fire Safety Act and making its clauses implementable in government buildings and hospitals.
Non-implementation of Fire Force Act (1967) to ensure that safety equipment are installed in buildings has also been blamed for the frequent fire accidents.
Unplanned urbanization has exposed Srinagar to many civic problems, including the vulnerability to fire accidents. In some areas of the city, houses are stacked so close together that every time a fire breaks out, there is every chance of it spreading far and wide causing maximum damage.
In many areas of the city, there is no adequate fire gap between the houses and as result when fire breaks out in these localities fire brigade cannot douse the flames effectively. In the not so distant past, the city has witnessed several major fire incidents in which scores of houses were gutted because the congestion posed a major hurdle to the fire tenders.
This helplessness has been evident in some of the most congested localities where property worth crores has been reduced to ashes in recent years. While the affected people keep accusing fire and emergency services department of inaction, officials blame people for negligence. The fire management has been affected by the deficiencies pertaining to fire stations, fire fighting, rescue vehicles and manpower.
The Fire & Emergency Services (J&K) was established in the year 1893 as Srinagar Fire Brigade. The fire & emergency services is presently spread over 164 fire and emergency stations all over the State.
There is a dire need to upgrade the training programme for Fire Service personnel to equip them to deal with the challenges. So far instead of taking a holistic view of the problems facing effective fire management, the state government’s response has at best been relief-centric. Though we often hear of the government extending cash compensation for the fire victims, we hardly hear of any major decision being taken to avert such incidents. The ‘band-aid approach’ has meant that there has been no proper policy for mitigation, prevention, preparedness and fast response during fire calamities.
Meanwhile, Srinagar’s Bone and Joints Hospital was a premier health institute catering to the orthopedic ailments of the local populace. The orthopedic hospital, established in the 1980s, was one of its kind in Jammu and Kashmir. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
