SM Street Fire: Magistrate Probe Ordered
KOZHIKODE: A probe by a sub-divisional magistrate will be launched to unearth the cause of fire that broke out on SM Street late Wednesday night. “An action plan will be drafted after getting the report,” said Social Justice Minister M K Muneer, following a meeting chaired by him at the Collectorate here on Thursday.
The meeting decided to pay maximum compensation to traders, which will be decided by the Cabinet, scheduled next Wednesday. Several shops were gutted in the late night fire that broke out on SM street, popularly known as ‘Mittayi Theruvu’, in the city.
“The damaged buildings will be operational within 10 days. The fire on SM Street has once again exposed the failure in implementing the decisions taken after every fire mishap here. Everyone should be equally responsible for implementing the decisions,” Muneer said.
The minister also said that in order to avert such mishaps in the future, the District Collector has been entrusted to implement the Disaster Management Act under the monitoring of Chief Secretary. “The traders should take the initiative to replace the electrification in the buildings. A lapse from the side of one or two persons led to this kind of a big disaster leading to the loss of crores of rupees. The gutted shops have been directed to replace the old electrification in the wake of the mishap. The Disaster Management team will inspect these matters too. Besides, steps would be taken to lay electric lines via underground cables,” he added. Muneer assured that action will be taken against illegal constructions in the street. Plans are afoot to set up huge tanks to supply water to the area through pipes. He urged the traders to come forward to insure their shops in the wake of the incident. He has assured that talks will be initiated by the District Collector on slashing the insurance premium rates with public sector firms.
The minister hailed the service provided by the district administration, Police, Fire and Rescue Services, traders and locals during the incident. Mayor A K Premajam, M K Raghavan MP, A Pradeep Kumar MLA, District Collector N Prasanth and City Police Commissioner P A Valsan attended.