Jammu’s Burning Question

Jammu has seen two major fires in less than a fortnight. First Shiv Market on October 25. Now the Warehouse Nehru Market on Diwali night. Both times, shops were gutted. Both times, traders lost stocks worth crores. Both times, the same words were spoken — “immediate relief”, “all possible assistance”, “thorough assessment”. And both times, the traders were left asking when the help would actually arrive. What is worrying is not just the fire. It is the pattern. A wholesale market full of edible oil, ghee and foodgrains is a tinderbox waiting to happen. The fire spread because of what was stored there and how it was stored. The traders are now angry about the response of the Fire and Emergency Services. The department has produced CCTV footage and logbooks to show it acted in time. This dispute must be settled by an independent inquiry, not by trading charges in the press. Two things need immediate attention. First, the relief. Commercial properties are not covered under SDRF norms, as Union Minister Jitendra Singh has pointed out. That is a gap that must be closed for cases like this, because a trader whose shop burns is no different from a family whose house burns. Both have lost a livelihood. Second, prevention. A proper SOP for festive seasons, standby fire teams, compact tenders that can enter narrow lanes, and a separate site for storing inflammable goods away from crowded markets — all of this has been proposed. It should now be done. Traders cannot rebuild with sympathy. They need money, and they need it quickly. The government has promised action. Now it must show it.