New Delhi: The incidents of fire are on the rise in the Kashmir Valley and this has put pressure on the emergency services.
The fire department is receiving around eight calls per day, which the officials have termed as an “unusually” high number.
Around 660 incidents of fire have been reported in the valley in the first three months of this year, as per the report released by the Fire and Emergency Services (F&ES) department.
At least ten people have lost their lives in these fire incidents.
According to the data, more than 525 residential and other buildings, 99 shops and 11 shopping complexes, a hospital and eight vehicles were also destroyed during the 660 fire incidents.
The official data prepared by the Fire and Emergency Services department revealed that property worth Rs 35.72 crore was damaged, while goods worth over Rs 31.30 crore were also burnt in these incidents.
The highest number of fire incidents has been reported in Srinagar, as per the figure prepared by Joint Director, Fire & Emergency Services, Kashmir Range.
The Fire and Emergency Services department received 143 calls regarding fire, causing damage to property worth Rs 17.04 crore and goods worth Rs 20.38 crore.
The second highest fire calls in these months have been reported from Baramulla district where 108 fire incidents have taken place involving property worth Rs 2.25 crore and goods worth Rs 17.80 crore.
The incidents are not less in other eight districts, including Budgam, Anantnag, Kupwara, Pulwama, Shopian, Ganderbal, Kulgam and Bandipora where 45, 68, 81, 53, 24, 49, 39 and 50 fire incidents respectively have been reported from January 2022- March 2022.
Besides, there were also 39 incidents of fire in electrical transformers and 10 incidents of forest fire in the valley with Srinagar and Baramulla topping the list with four and three incidents respectively, according to the survey.
The Fire and Emergency Services department, as per the data, claimed to have saved property worth Rs 27.75 crore in these incidents.
The survey pointed short-circuits and gas leaks as major causes of fire incidents.
The department has said the government needs to improve the construction system in the valley as per the new guidelines and make annual inspections of electrical systems mandatory in government and private commercial establishments.
The survey suggested that fire safety measures should be checked every 10 to 12 years even in private homes.
However, dozens of incidents, which took place in the month of April, have not been included in this report. This includes a major incident in the old city of Srinagar earlier on Tuesday in which more than a dozen houses were burnt.