Palayam market flirts with fire in Thiruvananthapuram

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Monday was a usual day for Radhakrishnan, a fruit vendor at Connemara market, Palayam, until a fire broke out from the heap of dry banana leaves in front of his shop at night. His presence of mind and timely alert passed on to fire force averted what could have been a tragic night for the market. The fire force rushed to the spot and brought the fire under control before it caused any damage.However, the danger still looms over the market.
With more than 30 grocery and provisional stores located around the area where the fire broke out, large heaps of dry banana leaves and dry banana fruit stems still remain undisposed. Even though the fire could be doused in less than an hour on Monday night, the shopkeepers say that it might not be the same always.
"The market inside the city does not have any safety requirement to fight fire. Considering the future accidents like that happened in Chalai market in 2014, we have submitted proposal to install fire hydrants at the markets in the city. However, the proposal did not evoke a positive response," said district fire officer P Dileepan.
Another shop owner said the corporation has stopped cleaning and removal of waste from the market for the past six months.
"'My City, Beautiful City' campaign of corporation is only focused on making roadsides attractive. No development or cleaning facilities are arranged inside the market ,during sunny weather we fear of a fire outbreak," he said.
Meanwhile, the councillor of the area and welfare standing committee chairman Palayam Rajan said that the burnt heaps of dry leaves and other wastes will be cleared from the area within two days.
"The waste was cleared in three loads of truck on Tuesday. By Wednesday and Thursday the whole mess will be shifted from here. The process of waste management got halted with the Onam celebrations. We are planning to arrange a meeting with the vendors here to stop unloading the dry leaves resulting in a garbage dump yard here. Also, security guards will be appointed at each corridor of the market at nights," Rajan said.