Shillong, October 16 : Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Monday visited the spot where a fire engulfed an entire building in Police Bazar. The fire incident, which occurred on Saturday, took almost over 40 hours to douse.
The Chief Minister was accompanied by Chief Secretary DP Wahlang, DGP LR Bishnoi, and other senior officials. He inspected the site and had a review meeting with the officials. He has asked officials to submit a report on the incident, which has claimed one life. He has also asked officials to conduct all safety audits of the building and ascertain the cause of the fire.
The Chief Minister expressed concerns with the families that were affected by the incident. He said that the incident had the potential to be disastrous as it was in the middle of the market area, which was congested and was difficult for the fire service to reach. He said that it was a challenging task, but all concerned departments and officials, especially fire service, army, air force, Assam rifles, BSF, police, administration, and the community, all came together to contain the situation.
The Chief Minister lauded the efforts of all stakeholders, who ensured that the fire did not spread out from the affected building to the other adjoining buildings and houses. He informed that a detailed investigation will be conducted on the incident to ascertain the cause of the fire.
He said, “We will closely look into the matter and come up with a response mechanism on how we can contain and avoid such a situation in future.”
He said that the building had several godowns which made the entire operation challenging but all stakeholders have shown their utmost commitment in dealing with the situation. He said that safety audits and other measures will also be taken up to ensure that such situations do not arise in future. He also said that a cabinet meeting on October 18 will be held to discuss the entire matter.
The fire incident is a reminder of the importance of fire safety measures. The government should take steps to ensure that all buildings in the state are equipped with proper fire safety measures. The government should also conduct regular fire safety audits of all buildings to ensure that they are compliant with fire safety regulations.
