LARKANA: The Larkana Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has expressed its concern over the local municipality’s ill-preparedness to cope with any major fire incident in the city, pointing out that it had only four fire engines and they all were in bad shape.

With these few vehicles, the Larkana Municipal Corporation (LMC) could perform its duty of firefighting in an efficient manner, it said, pointing out that the city had expanded in all directions and its population had also increased to 800,000 souls.

The LCCI has urged the authorities concerned to establish more fire stations at different locations.

LCCI president Bashir M. Paryal Shaikh has written a letter to the department concerned in this regard.

Speaking to Dawn on Monday, he said it looked unjustified that the city with a population of 800,000 people had only one fire station. He said that the station was located in the thickly populated area, Jiles Bazaar, which appeared to be hub of business and trade. Vehicular traffic in the area could hardly move in peak hours, often at a snail’s pace. In an emergency situation, the fire brigade vehicles struggle hard to move amid a mess of traffic. This causes delay in rushing to a place where fire has to be extinguished. Ultimately the fire inflicts more damage. He said the four firefighting vehicles available to the station were procured in 1990s and since then the LMC seemed to have paid no attention to their maintenance.

The station was in a shabby condition and very recently the plaster of its ceiling had partially fallen down, he said, adding that the life its personnel were also at risk while sitting in the office and the parking area.

“It is very sad to see that the district is left at the mercy of nature; an emergency can hit this city anytime and the fire brigade would not be able to cope up it, he apprehended.

He suggested that at least four fire stations be established on the outskirts of the city and also new vehicles be made available to them to save people from suffering heavy losses in the event of emergencies.

Published in Dawn, August 9th, 2022