THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The recent fire accidents in the capital city have once again posed a question on the efficiency of rescue operations in the city’s congested areas with narrow streets and lanes. For long, there have been demands from various quarters for increasing the width of our roads, but nothing has materialised yet. ‘‘Dousing the fire which tore through the congested Chalai market recently was a tough job for us. Narrow roads leading to the area made it difficult for fire fighters to reach the rescue operation spot quickly. So it’s a must to have good road connectivity to carry out our operations efficiently,’’ said K Sivanandan, technical director of the Fire and Rescue Service Department.‘‘Most of the roads in the city cannot accommodate our heavy vehicles. In many places, we had to lay hoses for more than 500 m, which apparently reduced the force and the flow of the water,’’ he said. To tackle this, the Department has recently purchased two mini-lorries and a motorbike extinguisher. The Chalai fire was a wake-up call to the State Disaster Management Department. It is now planning to prepare an SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) in consultation with all stakeholders, said Department secretary Valsalakumari. ‘’Fire accidents in busy and congested market areas are indeed a major risk. We will chart out a plan soon,’’ she disclosed. According to executive engineer of the City Corporation Shivakumar, land acquisition would be a major obstacle for road-widening. ‘’There are several roads in the city having less than 3 m in width. Carrying out emergency operations on these roads is a tough task,’’ he said. The public should support road expansion proposals for their own safety, feels E Baburaj, Chief Engineer (R&B), PWD. ‘’Increasing the riding quality of roads through geometric corrections and proper drainage system could be done as a first step,’’ he opined.‘’The Kerala Road Fund Board has renovated around 42 km of road in the capital. Scientific development of all city roads is possible if the problem of land acquisition is tackled,’’ he said. Corporation councillor and chairman of the standing committee on Public Works Padmakumar said that the Corporation would set up special purpose water connections on narrow roads to facilitate immediate fire-dousing activities. ‘’In the first phase, taps will be set up at important commercial centres and thickly populated residential areas where rescue operations are difficult. The Corporation would also ask traders to remove temporary and permanent encroachments on busy lanes,’’ he said.
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