THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Fort Police Assistant Commissioner will issue a memo to all scrap merchants within its limits making it mandatory for them to install mobile fire extinguishers and conduct periodic inspection of electric wiring. The decision was taken after a major fire outbreak was reported from a scrap godown at the Bund Road near Killipalam on Monday.
Fort Sub Division Assistant Commissioner S S Shaji said the memo will be issued to scrap merchants on Tuesday and after that he will write to senior officers requesting them to take up the matter at the highest level. “I will write to top officials to make installation of fire extinguishers and periodic repairing of wiring mandatory for providing licences to such shops. Such shops store oil filters and bitumen barrels and could easily lead to combustion,” he said. Fort sub division comprises many key trading areas in the city, including Chalai and Karamana.
Shaji said it is too early to tell what went wrong at Killipalam godown and added that the forensic team and Department of Electrical Inspectorate will visit the place and conduct tests to ascertain what caused the fire. Meanwhile, Nedumcaud ward councillor Karamana Ajith said the scrap merchants have been flouting safety rules and that resulted in the mishap.
He said many of the scrap shops operate without licences and the city corporation is turning a blind eye to it. “I have personally filed many complaints against the scrap shops. Many of them are operating by encroaching government land. Even the land on the side of Killiyar is being encroached upon by the scrap dealers. They do not adhere to safety protocols and make life unsafe for the public. The old scrap vehicles that are kept outside the godown by the merchants pose law and order issues as well,” he said.
The local residents associations too have voiced their opposition against mushrooming of scrap shops in their vicinity. Ajith said most of the shops keep more goods outside their shops than inside due to space constraints. “Most of the scrap items are being kept beneath electric posts. That poses a threat to the life and property of people,” he said. Fort Assistant Commissioner, meanwhile, said he has not got any complaints from the residents against the shops.