Merchants to form disaster management team (The Hindu, Feb. 24, 2017)

Post date: Feb 24, 2017 8:14:02 PM

The 100-member team will have basic fire-fighting accessories to handle emergencies

Kozhikode: For the first time in the State, the merchant community is setting up a disaster management team of its own in Kozhikode. Concerned over the frequent fire breakouts on S.M. Street, the Kerala Vyapari Vyavasayi Ekopana Samiti (KVVES) on Friday decided to form a 100-member disaster management team comprising young merchants. The team will have basic fire-fighting accessories to handle emergencies.

The decision to constitute the team was taken at a district-level meeting of regional and district leaders of the organisation. The primary responsibility of the team will be to check the spread of fire and manage the situation till the arrival of Fire and Rescue Service and police personnel.

“The team members, mostly youngsters, will be given special uniforms. They will be trained by experts in disaster management,” said KVVES district general secretary Ashraf Moothedath.

He added that crowd management and speedy control of the spread of flames had been found crucial in all the previous incidents of fire on S.M. Street. “The special task force will be able to tackle the challenge,” he hoped.

In addition to the team, KVVES will form a Hygiene and Sanitation Committee to occasionally inspect shops and ensure a clean and tidy ambiance. The committee, comprising 11 members, will be empowered to make suggestions and report security slips to the higher authorities.

The traders’ meeting also called upon the district administration to ensure the specified number of fire hydrants on the street. Many a time, the delay in filling water in tanker lorries had impeded fire fighting, they claimed.

The merchants, who opposed the move of the police to stop the entry of vehicles to the street in the name of the ‘walking street’ project, however, agreed to cooperate with the realisation of the Heritage Street Project earlier mooted by the Ministry of Urban Affairs.