Corporators raise pitch for slum survey to avert fires

PUNE: The elected representatives in the civic body want the municipal corporation and Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) to jointly conduct a survey of slums to spot and fix the loopholes leading to fires.

At least 100 of the 1,200 houses on the banks of the Mula in the Patil Estate slum off Pune-Mumbai highway in Shivajinagar were destroyed in a fire on November 28.Similarly, a massive fire had reduced 70 houses to ashes at the Ambedkarnagar slums in Market Yard on April 21.
People living in the two slums had said the cause of the fires was electrical short circuits.
The corporators said the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and the MSEDCL should conduct a survey of all the slums and recommend measures to fix the loopholes in the supply system, ensure repair of the cables and take action against power thefts.
Deputy mayor Siddharth Dhende said he has written a letter to the municipal chief, seeking urgent steps to ensure the safety of the slum dwellers. He added that safety measures in the slums could not be ignored as over 40% of the city’s population live in such areas.
Dhende said, “The living conditions are not good in slums. People are compelled to live in these areas because of restricted resources and finances. The administration should take steps to avoid any untoward incident because of the electric short circuits.”
He added that the elected representatives wanted a survey of the power supply situation in the slums and an effective plan to eliminate chances of short circuits and fires. The survey should include inspection of the wires, power connections, electric meters, the civic body’s poles near the slum areas and the unauthorized use of electricity.
Chetan Tupe of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) said the slum areas needed more attention because of the dense population. “Underground power cables are not a feasible option. There’s hardly any place left for digging and laying cables. The government should come up with a better plan for the uplift of the slum dwellers,” he said.
The corporators also want the civic administration to remove encroachments along the roads approaching the slums because the fire fighters faced a lot of difficulties reaching the areas during emergencies.