The massive fire that engulfed a building in the crowded Thana Road in Police Bazar and brought much of Shillong to a standstill could lead to tougher safety measures being introduced by the state government.
Roads leading into Police Bazar were closed to traffic in order not to hamper fire engines from being able to reach the scene of the incident, as the blaze threatened to spread to other buildings in the area. One person inside the building, which was of mixed commercial and residential use, died.
The state cabinet will hold a detailed discussion on the subject, Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma said. More than 40 hours after the incident, he visited the site today and also held a meeting with the Chief Secretary, Director General of Police, Deputy Commissioner and other senior officials.
“Safety audits and other audits need to be done. All of these will be examined and we’ll have a cabinet meeting on the 18th (Wednesday) and the detailed discussion will happen on that day,” he informed.
“The incident had the potential to be disastrous as it was in the middle of the market area, which was congested and was difficult for the fire service to come in. It was a challenging task, but all concerned departments and officials, especially fire service, army, air force, Assam Rifles, BSF, police, administration and the community all came together to contain the situation”, he said.
“This also is an eye opener for us to work out SOPs (standard operating procedures) and conduct drills for such a scale of emergencies, especially in commercial areas so such incidents are avoided. Will sit down with the team to chalk out a special emergency plan,” he added.
