Hawkers’ body says street vendors not to be blamed for delayed firefighting in PB

Shillong, Oct 16: The Meghalaya and Greater Shillong Progressive Hawkers and Street Vendors Association has taken strong exception to the negative comments of “a few vested interested parties” blaming the street vendors and hawkers for the delay of fire tenders reaching the fire site in Police Bazar.

Expressing grief and sorrow at the incident in which one residential cum business building belonging to a particular Singhania family was gutted, the association in a statement on Monday said, “The blame is uncalled for; instead, the local authorities and welfare society must introspect and critically examine the safety issues with the emergence of high-rise buildings in the area. What is needed now is to immediately constitute an independent body to study and conduct a safety audit of all buildings in the area, including all business and residential areas in the city.”

The association believes that Shillong is being destroyed by capital greed and unscrupulous planning, which flout every norm at every level of civic administration.

“A similar fire damaged the Church in Qualapaty four years ago, claiming two precious lives. In Qualapaty, the heavy fire trucks could not squeeze through the narrow roads to reach the fire. A few months ago, one of the oldest schools in the city, the KJP Girls Higher Secondary School, was destroyed by fire. During this incident, the firefighters were helpless again, unable to navigate their trucks through the narrow lanes,” it noted and called for an independent body to conduct a safety audit of all the buildings in the area where a recent fire gutted a building.

The association’s general secretary, Shane Thabah, said during the inferno on Saturday, the association members trading in the Khyndai Lad area did their best to assist and lend helping hands to the victims while risking their own lives.

“The hawkers and street vendors did not cause any obstruction as they immediately withdrew their wares from the road when the building caught fire,” he added.

The association is willing to work alongside the district administration to build a safe and equitable Shillong.