Srinagar, Feb 11: The devastating fire that gutted multiple houses in Haba Kadal area of downtown Srinagar on Tuesday night escalated rapidly as fire tenders struggled to access the congested locality due to wrongly parked vehicles, officials and locals said.
According to inhabitants, fire and emergency service teams faced immense difficulty in pushing their heavy vehicles through the narrow lanes as cars were parked along the roadside, leaving minimal space for passage. They said it has become a norm in several parts of Srinagar to park vehicles on roads even during night hours, severely obstructing emergency movement.
Locals of Haba Kadal described the issue as serious and long-standing, urging authorities to frame and strictly implement rules against roadside parking in congested areas. They said timely access by fire tenders could have prevented the blaze from spreading to adjoining structures.
Deputy Director Fire and Emergency Services, Dr Auqib Hasan, while talking to the news agency Kashmir News Trust, acknowledged that wrongly parked vehicles create significant hurdles during emergency operations.
“Downtown areas have very narrow roads. Whenever we receive a distress call from such localities, we immediately ask the caller to ensure that wrongly parked vehicles are removed to facilitate smooth movement of fire tenders,” he said.
Calling it a serious and recurring problem, Dr Hasan appealed to citizens to act responsibly and avoid obstructing public roads, especially in densely populated areas, as delays in emergency response can result in greater loss of property.
The latest incident has once again brought into focus the urgent need for better traffic discipline and stricter enforcement to prevent escalation of such disasters.