BY NIHARIKA HANS
Stroll through any bazaar across Jammu right now and the irresistible festive spirit is unmistakable. The heady fragrance of fresh marigolds fills the air, sweetmeats simmer in bustling confectioneries working through the night, and cascading strings of fairy lights drape every storefront. It is the time of year when our city truly pulses with warmth and vitality.
Yet, for many of us, this festive cheer arrives shadowed by an unsettling sense of foreboding.
Merely weeks ago, a catastrophic pre-dawn blaze tore through Shiv Market near the railway station, reducing dozens of small enterprises to smoldering ruins. Decades of earnest toil and painstakingly accumulated festive inventories dissolved into ashes before first light. Shortly thereafter, another alarming inferno erupted near the old soap factory precinct in Paloura, gutting a garment outlet and sending dense, acrid plumes of black smoke drifting over neighboring residential homes.
In both tragedies, the operational scene on the ground was agonizingly familiar: shop owners desperately scrambling to salvage whatever stock they could reach, narrow lanes completely gridlocked by parked two-wheelers, and emergency fire tenders struggling to maneuver through tight corridors never engineered for relief vehicles.
These were neither isolated occurrences nor freak accidents. They are unequivocal, urgent warnings about the precarious ways in which we live, build, and celebrate across Jammu.
Our historic bazaars—Pacca Danga, Link Road, Purani Mandi, and Kanak Mandi—alongside fast-expanding commercial zones like Janipur and Talab Tillo, have become virtual tinderboxes awaiting the slightest provocation. Compact retail spaces are stacked to the ceiling with synthetic garments, dry packaging cardboard, and combustible plastic goods. Overhead, a tangled web of uninsulated wiring sags under the excessive load of cheap imported festive illuminations.
Introduce stray sparklers, errant sky-rockets, and unguarded earthen lamps into this congested environment, and the boundary separating celebratory joy from irreversible ruin diminishes to mere seconds.
Nobody wishes to curtail the heartfelt spirit of Diwali; celebration is deeply ingrained in our civic and cultural fabric. However, genuine celebration cannot be equated with blind recklessness. If we hope to avert further headlines detailing ruined livelihoods and displaced families on the morning after Diwali, we must shoulder collective civic and personal responsibility immediately.
## FOR OUR TRADERS AND MARKET ASSOCIATIONS
– **Maintain Clear Access Lanes:** Street encroachment is more than an inconvenience; it presents a fatal barrier to emergency responders. When narrow alleys cannot accommodate a standard rescue vehicle, an entire commercial block can be consumed before a single water hose is deployed.
– **Audit Electrical Connections Immediately:** Discard frayed wiring, damaged cords, and sub-standard multi-plug adapters that heat up during operation. Ensure all decorative external lighting is powered off completely the moment shutters are lowered for the night.
– **Keep Basic Firefighting Equipment at Hand:** A decorative entryway cannot extinguish an accidental flare-up. An accessible, certified ABC powder fire extinguisher alongside dedicated buckets of dry sand and water placed right by the storefront can halt a localized spark from escalating into a catastrophic market fire.
## FOR FAMILIES AND NEIGHBORHOODS
– **Choose Responsible Fireworks Locations:** Launching sky-rockets from narrow apartment balconies or bursting crackers on roads densely lined with parked vehicles directly invites tragedy. Restrict fireworks exclusively to open school grounds, public parks, or wide-open clearings away from overhead wires and combustible debris.
– **Exercise Vigilance Around Diyas:** While leaving oil lamps glowing into the night is a cherished custom, an unexpected gust of wind can easily blow a curtain or dry linen across an open flame. Position diyas strictly on solid, non-combustible surfaces, maintaining ample clearance from fabrics.
– **Opt for Safe Festive Attire:** Avoid loose, flowing synthetics such as georgette and nylon while lighting lamps or attending fireworks displays. Choose comfortable, natural cotton fabrics that resist catching fire upon incidental contact with a wayward ember.
– **Practice Essential First Aid:** Always keep a bucket of clean water close by whenever children celebrate outdoors. Should a burn occur, cool it under running tap water for a full 15 minutes without delay. Refrain from applying home remedies like toothpaste, raw eggs, or mustard oil—these seal in residual heat and heighten the risk of severe infections.
Every year on Diwali night, the piercing sirens of fire engines and ambulances cut through the sounds of music and rejoicing across Jammu. This distressing chorus does not have to remain our inevitable annual tradition. Diwali is meant to brighten our lives, not incinerate what we have labored to build. A touch of patience, fundamental precaution, and genuine regard for our neighbors’ well-being are all that is required to ensure every family greets the dawn with their joy, and their homes, fully intact.
