Visakhapatnam: November’s massive fire at the Visakhapatnam Fishing Harbour has led the Fisheries department into declaring the harbour area a No Smoking Zone.
“When the railway station and bus stand is a 'no smoking zone', why cannot the fishing harbour be a no smoking zone,” Fisheries department joint director Sheikh Lal Mohammad asked fishermen, while designating the harbour as no smoking zone.
The Fisheries department has decided to ensure that the worst fire incident on November 19 is not repeated. In this regard, the newly appointed joint director has made some proposals. These are:
Fishing harbour will become a No Smoking Zone. Only a single stove with maximum 5 litres of gas will be allowed into a boat. A token system will be implemented to pump diesel in the boat.
" Visakhapatnam Fishing Harbour has not seen a huge accident like ever before. It caused massive damage. We have decided to implement these three regulations considering the loopholes identified by police and fire departments which have investigated the accident. Discussions in this regard have been held with higher authorities. It is the responsibility of fishermen to cooperate. We will first create awareness about the importance of the proposals and then implement them,” Sheikh Lal Mohammad explained.
Police investigation into the incident established that a major cause for the massive fire accident on November 19 had been cigarette smoking and throwing the butts carelessly.
“For this negligence, we have paid a heavy price. Many lost their livelihood. Government treasury suffered a huge burden. Given the background, the harbour will be declared as a No Smoking Zone, the fishing joint director reiterated.
It has been found that some boat owners fill diesel in the tank and leave their vessels anchored for two or three days. This is nothing but violation of the Petroleum Act. Following the accident, the fisheries department is going to introduce a new law that only those boats leaving the harbour for fishing should be filled with diesel. In this regard, a token will be issued by fisheries department to the boat owner whose vessel will leave the harbour for fishing. Diesel will be filled into vessel only when the token is submitted.
Fishermen sometimes carry household and commercial gas cylinders for cooking on the boats. This is a violation of the Civil Supplies Act, according to which, moving vehicles shall not carry household or commercial gas cylinders.
That is why only smaller five-kg gas cylinders will be allowed on board boats for making tea or cooking, fisheries officials have stated.
