It has now been five since Municipal authorities in Vasco brought up the poor condition of fire hydrants in the Municipal market. Since 2011, over eight joint meetings, followed by inspections have been held with the assurance that the Mormugao Municipal Council (MMC) would ensure speedy action to rectify the anomaly. However, all these efforts have so far been futile due to which, vendors in the market face the risk of a fire disaster, feel the distraught vendors.
“It appears that no one is concerned about our safety. Our market is vulnerable to a fire mishap and the structure of the building as well as electrical fixtures have gone bad. In the event of a fire, we will face severe losses in the market,” mentioned Diva Amonkar, a shop owner.
In the last five years, over 15 fire mishaps have been reported while property worth over Rs 60 lakh has been destroyed. An important point to be noted is that the market has nearly 212-odd shops and establishments located in about 5000 sq mt of area and at any given point in the day, there is a presence of at least 500 people in the market which makes it one of the most congested shopping places in the port-town. However, still there is no sign of the municipality giving importance to the safety of people. This was proved by the information provided by fire officials in Vasco.
According to Namdev Parwar, fire official in charge in Vasco, the first serious meeting with regard to the defunct hydrants was held in 2011 and this was done only after the then-Disaster Management in charge of Mormugao and Deputy Collector, Levinson Martins complained to the MMC about the non-functional hydrants in the market.
Following the complaint, there was a joint inspection by the MMC, Vasco fire brigade and other officials. It was brought to the notice of the officials that the fire hydrants were dilapidated and the market space was congested which would make it vulnerable when exposed to fire.
Parwar went on to inform that the then fire safety officer submitted his report and pointed out that the main fire hydrant line which is connected to the underground well with a pump near the municipal garage is found to be non-operational, while officials informed that a new fire line was installed by the PWD. This line, however, was not traceable. Ironically, the hydrants seen in the market area were covered with concrete slabs and mud.
“Most of the shops occupied by vendors are covered with tarpaulin sheets and other combustible material. Hence, the market is exposed to the risk of fire. Electric wires passing through the plastic material and haphazardly connected to shops makes the scenario worse and if any eventuality occurs, no adequate passage is maintained for fire fighting equipment to enter the market. Another worry is that there are shops that do not have fire extinguishers, which is mandatory as per the Goa State Fire Force Act, 1986 and Rules 1997,” Parwar added.
Due to the pending issue, Herald decided to take it up with the MMC and asked them to give a concrete deadline on the issue. “I understand that this issue is serious. I assure that within 8 or 10 days, I will have a joint meeting and resolve this. There will be water availability in the hydrants at all times,” assured Melvyn Vaz, CO of the MMC.
City councillor, Krishna Salkar also acknowledged that the defunct hydrants pose a high risk and assured that from the councillor’s side, he would make a fresh attempt to resolve the pending issue. “I know that shopkeepers and patrons are exposed to a high risk of a fire disaster at the market due to the non-availability of fire fighting gear. In the forthcoming Municipal meeting, I will make sure we take up it up and if required, send the same to the government to ensure that the market gets a fool proof system in place,” Salkar promised.
