Raja Syed Rather
Ganderbal, May 15 : The traders and locals at Sonamarg in Ganderbal district here are up in arms against the authorities for failing to establish a fire station in the area.
Shabir Ahmad, member of the Beopar Mandal in Sonamarg told the news agency that for the past three decades, the community has been requesting a seasonal fire station, but no action has been taken so far.
The fire tender has to reach here from Gund area whenever any fire incident takes place. Gund is nearly 23 kilometers away and takes lot of time to reach Sonamarg.
“Sonamarg is a famous tourist destination in the Kashmir valley, attracting hundreds of thousands of tourists,” Ahmad said and recalled that several decades ago, a devastating fire destroyed the main market of Sonamarg.
Following the incident, the community was assured that a seasonal fire station would be established, but no progress has been made in this regard.
The damage would have lessened if the fire tenders had been on the spot.
In 2006 and 2007, 2016, 2024, dozens of shops were gutted in separate devastating fire incidents and authorities assured that a fire station will be set up here, however nothing has been done in this regard, thereby leaving the local populace here to lurch at large, the traders and locals said.
In the recent fire, a residential quarter of a hotel was gutted.
Local police, residents, the Transit Camp Sonamarg, and Mega Engineering provided water tankers to douse the flames while the fire tenders reached the spot very late, local shopkeepers told.
We appeal the district administration Ganderbal besides Director Fire and Emergency Services to ensure the availability of fire stations in Sonamarg, they said
