Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir National Conference Member of Parliament Anantnag Hasnain Masoodi on Friday expressed deep anguish over the massive fire incident in Halsidar in Verinag Tehsil that resulted in massive damages to various residential houses.
While expressing sympathies with the affected, Masoodi impressed upon the District and divisional administration to walk an extra mile to help the fire victims. He impressed upon the administration to rush revenue teams to the spot to assess the losses incurred by affected families so that the quantum of compensation is worked out and distributed at the earliest.
“It is quite imperative for the administration to ensure that compensation and relief is distributed to the affected families before the onset of harsh winters. Meantime, the local district administration should also distribute free monthly ration consisting of rice, sugar, and other kitchen condiments to the affected families. Providing subsidized building material, warm thermal wears, and blankets will also go a long way to help the families withstand the tragedy,” he said.
Masoodi also drew the attention of the government towards the shortfall of fire stations in the higher reaches and far-flung hamlets of Larnoo, Halsidar, Qamer, and Karpan in south Kashmir. “The disaster in the Halsidar could have been averted had the fire tenders reached the spot on time. It took much time for the fire tenders to reach the spot. By then the fire had smoldered the properties. In the hamlet of Qamar, the local population is yet to have any fire services facility available to them. Similarly, there are various densely populated hamlets in the entire Dooru, Shahabad, Qamar, Veerinag, Shangus, Kapran and other areas where the fire services posts and stations are yet to be established,” he said.
“There are other places where the required infrastructure exists but the building isn’t functional, as is the case with the fire station at Larnoo. I therefore impress upon the divisional administration to carry out a safety audit of the entire belt and fill the shortfall of fire posts and fire stations in the belt,” he added.
