Safety norms thrown to the wind

C Pradeep Kumar
Vijayawada

Failure of officials in implementing fire safety measures in Diwali firecracker caused a fire mishap leading to the death of two persons in Vijayawada Gymkhana grounds on Sunday. Another person was injured. The Gymkhana ground is a small ground and limited stalls are given permission during the Diwali festival. Last year, only eight stalls were given permission during the Diwali festival. This year, however, 19 firecracker stalls have been given permission violating rules and norms, allege local residents.

The locals say that the ground is surrounded by a petrol pump, Urban Health Centre, VMC Function hall, swimming pool and a blood bank. As many as 19 stalls were given permission in the congested area, throwing safety rules to the wind and risking the lives of the people who come to buy crackers.

After public activities were totally restricted in PWD grounds on account of the construction of Dr BR Ambedkar’s 125-foot statue, the VMC was finding it difficult to find a suitable place for organising various public and government activities in the city. For a few important government programmes, the IGMC stadium was used. The VMC was accommodating other programmes like exhibitions, expos and stalls for Diwali in all possible government and private places in the city.

For the current Diwali festival the VMC has given permission to more than 50 firecracker stalls under the corporation limits at various locations.Other than Gymkhana grounds, 23 stalls were given permission in Ghantasala Music College, 12 in Satavahana College open ground, five in mini exhibition grounds opposite Reliance mart and four stalls in Makineni Basavapunnaiah stadium ground.

The VMC fire safety department officials said it was rest assured that all the stall owners followed fire safety norms like Zinc sheet, three meters gap between stalls, two drums with 200 liters of water at each stall, four buckets with sand at each shop, two two-kg DCP fire extinguishers per shop and sand bags are kept handy in case of fire.The officials said that the possible reason for the fire accident was mishandling of local made flower pots.

The police and the fire officials, who visited the spot, say that they received the information at about 7.30 am. The fire tenders immediately rushed to the spot and brought the fire under control.The officials said that all fire precautions were followed but unfortunately the incident happened.He said they suspect that local made fire crackers were mishandled that exploded resulting in the accident.

CPM leader Ch Babu Rao alleged that the ruling party leaders were going out of the way in giving permission to the cracker stalls in a small place to pave the way for such incidents. He said that a petrol pump was adjacent to the grounds and if the fire was spread to the petrol pump it would be a mishap. He demanded that the government should pay an ex-gratia of Rs 25 lakh to the deceased family members who died in the fire incident.

APCC president Dr Sake Sailajanath demanded a detailed inquiry into the fire mishap and stern action should be taken on the persons responsible.

He said it was very sad that two workers died in the incident. He alleged that the firecracker stalls were not set up following fire safety norms. Due to the pressure from ruling party leaders, permission was given to stalls illegally. If the incident had taken place during business hours, there would have been huge loss of life, he added.