Irfan Tramboo
Srinagar, Jan 19: In case of any fire eventuality, the Civil Secretariat and the Assembly complex in Srinagar are two highly vulnerable buildings of the governance in J&K due to the callousness of the administration.
The administration has utterly failed in putting in place effective fire fighting mechanism up to date with the latest requirements in the two building over the years, sources told Excelsior.
With regard to the Civil Secretariat, though the building is concrete in nature, the wooden panelling over the years in the interiors has rendered the building vulnerable in case of any fire incident.
Pertinent to mention here, the Department of Fire and Emergency Services has installed 20-25 Advanced Fire Technology (AFT) sprays in the building, but the irony is that, these sprays are transported to Jammu soon after the seasonal closing of the Government offices in Kashmir and are brought back to Srinagar during the summer season.
“There are no fire safety measures whatsoever in both the buildings-Civil Secretariat and the Assembly Complex; there is no in built system; rather the AFT sprays have been used which are workable only in case of any minor fire incident,” the sources informed.
Moreover, the Government has procured hundreds of fire extinguishers years back to be installed in the Civil Secretariat building, but the sorry state of affairs is that those extinguishers have not been refilled over the years.
Given the enormity of the building, there is no huge source water to be used in case of any eventuality. The sources said that there is no source of water there; there should have been an underground water reservoir or a tank with required capacity which could have been used in case of any eventuality.
Further, in case of the Assembly complex, even there also, there are no in-built fire safety measures and with the Assembly complex being entirely wooden in nature-in the interiors-the complex is more susceptible to the fire and can turn into ashes within minutes.
“The Government has not paid any attention to the fire safety of these buildings. A lot more could have been done with regard to the fire safety at both the buildings. Fire hydrants along with an array of measures could have been out in place at both the buildings over the years, but nothing has been done,” the insiders informed Excelsior.
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