The massive fire at Broadway in Kochi on Monday has finally opened the eyes of the city Corporation. Officials of the local body have started removing unauthorised establishments in the area. Illegal extensions of buildings which were protruding on to the streets, were removed by Kochi Corporation officials on Wednesday.
The fire, which happened at one of the shops in the area on Monday, had created panic among people and authorities alike, as it was found to be difficult to conduct rescue operations in the area. While no casualties were reported, the fire spread to parts of two other shops nearby.
Officials started removing the illegal establishments from the streets at around 10.30 am on Wednesday. Many shops had displayed items on the footpath along with name boards. The officials removed them and cleared the streets on Broadway.
The street-side vendors, who had erected structures without permission, were also removed.
Broadway and the surrounding area is an important commercial area in Kochi city. It is also one of the oldest streets in Kochi. The narrow streets are crowded with small and big commercial establishments, with little or no breathing space between each building. The streets are also devoid of proper parking facilities, making rescue operations in the area a herculean task.
Narrow lanes and traffic congestion at Broadway
Because of these characteristics of the area, Broadway has been considered as the most sensitive ‘fire accident prone area’ in the city by Fire and Rescue department.
Authorities failed to heed multiple warnings
The fire mishap could have been avoided if authorities had paid heed to the recurrent warnings of Fire and Rescue officials.
Officials in the department told TNM that multiple reports were given to Ernakulam district administration and Kochi Corporation officials about the ‘fire accident prone zones’ in the city. “We have been giving multiple reports since 2016 about the zones in Kochi which are highly susceptible to fire mishaps. The Fire and Rescue department can only report about the defects, we don’t have power to take action in the matter. It is supposed to be done by the local body of the place,” Gogy JS, district fire officer told TNM.
The last report regarding this was given just two weeks before this latest fire mishap occurred. According to the latest report, there are 928 buildings in the district which have been declared ‘fire unsafe’.
We had given suggestions to build facilities like permanent water hydrants in the area, installing fire alarms etc., but these were not done.
Unsafe electrical connections a major threat
Including KCP Appu and Sons, the shop on Cloth Bazar road in Broadway which caught fire on Monday, hundreds of age-old buildings coexist with some newly built ones in the area. Most of these buildings have very unsafe electrical connections, which have high chance of catching fire from short circuits.
The shop at Broadway which caught fire on Monday
The building which caught fire, that sold accessories related to the textile industry, was also apparently due to a short circuit.
“There are hundreds of buildings in the area which are in a similar condition. Anything can happen at anytime. If this latest incident had occurred at night, nobody would have seen the fire and the whole area could have been burnt down,” said the fire officer.
Illegal extensions of buildings is also another factor which contributed to the mishap. In Monday’s mishap, the fire first started in one such extension on the first floor, which was covered with aluminium sheets. Highly flammable materials including cloth pieces, elastic and nylon threads were stacked in the room. A loss of more than Rs 1 crore is estimated in the fire.
The city police commissioner conducted a meeting with various stakeholders of industrial establishments, theatres and shopping malls in Kochi to check if their electrical connections and building constructions were safe.
Lack of awareness
Another concern shared by the officials was lack of awareness about fire accidents among the people.
“Many buildings do not have fire safety precautions. In addition to that, people also do not have an idea of when to contact the Fire and Rescue officials. Some days back, we saw fumes on top of a residential apartment while we looked from our office in Kochi. The rescue personnel went there on their own, nobody reported this incident. Apparently somebody had burnt waste on top of the building and the flames got big. It could have been a huge disaster, no one really realised the danger of it,” said Gogy JS.
In the wake of these incidents, the department is coordinating with various establishments to create awareness among people. As the first step, the department has reached out to movie theatres in the city. “We plan to create a fire warning message that will be screened before a movie, so that people will know what to do when a fire mishap occurs,” he said.