The Civil Defence Department has decided to set up fire hydrants on the water pipelines and train the traders of Shah Alam and Azam Markets to avoid losses caused by fires.
The decision has been taken after a devastating fire broke out in Hafeez Centre in October. A committee comprising Civil Defence Chief Instructor Shahbaz Rashid and an instructor has been constituted to review the fire fighting facilities in both the markets. The committee will conduct a detailed survey of the markets in the next 15 days, inspect the water pipelines and identify suitable sites for hydrant installation.
The committee will state in its report the total number of hydrants to be installed and how much it will cost to install them. According to sources, Director Civil Defence Punjab Altaf Baloch will also meet DG Walled City Kamran Lashari and MD Wasa Zahid Aziz for consultation and assistance on the project.
Shah Alam Market and Azam Cloth Market are the largest wholesale markets in the country with more than 32,000 shops and about 40,000 warehouses. More than 500,000 people visit the place every day.
The clothes and other goods sold in both markets can catch fire quickly and in case of such an incident, fire trucks cannot enter both of them because they have streets that are only three to five feet wide.
Due to the presence of shops on both sides of the narrow streets, large vehicles cannot enter them. The Civil Defence Department has prepared the plan in view of the difficulties and the presence of goods worth trillions of rupees as well as a large number of people in the markets daily.
On the direction of the director, new methods are being considered for extinguishing fires in the two markets.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 24th, 2020.
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