ALAPPUZHA: A full-fledged fire station is a far cry in this backwater cruising hub, leaving houseboat operators to fend for themselves with crude methods to put out fires. Last week, two houseboats were gutted. A houseboat with tourists from Hyderabad caught fire in the wee hours of Monday, but the tourists, all fast asleep, had a miraculous escape.
This was not a one-off incident. More than 15 houseboat blazes have been reported and a crew member died of burns on Thiruvonam day in 2013. Houseboat owners association and houseboat operators association jointly raised this issue with Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on January 24, 2012, but there has been no solution.
All Kerala Houseboat Owners Association general secretary N Sreekumar told DC that the possibility of a fire at the finishing point was high as hundreds of houseboats are moored at the congested area. “A spark is enough to spread the fire and gut the entire fleet. A mobile fire station will help check casualties and damage to property”, he adds.
Most houseboats plying Vembanad Lake lack in mandatory safety equipment and crew members have little fire-fighting training. Besides, most houseboats have been running the service without insurance coverage. Mr C Pradeep, former DTPC secretary, says the council had mooted a fire station at the finishing point. But it has been bogged down by technical hassles. “A rapid action crisis management system is the need of the hour. Crew must be capable of operating fire-fighting equipment”, he said.
