A month since major blaze, Broadway firefighting plans yet to take off

A month after a major fire gutted several shops in Broadway, the area is yet to witness any significant change in terms of fire safety preparedness.

While there is no word yet from the authorities on chalking out a concrete plan to keep the street safe from potential fire accidents, steps are yet to be initiated to decongest the roads which remain the biggest challenge for firefighters to navigate through the street in case of an emergency.

Though the District Collector had instructed Kerala Water Authority (KWA) officials to install fire hydrants, a key firefighting requirement, in Broadway without delay, the project remains at an initial stage. The KWA has received a proposal to install the system in Broadway, along with two other locations, and officials are in the process of preparing an estimate, official sources said.

In Broadway’s case, a KWA official raised doubts about the effectiveness of a fire hydrant, as the area has only intermittent water supply. “It would be better to connect the hydrant to an existing water source in the vicinity rather than depend on KWA pipelines,” the official said.

A Fire and Rescue Services official cited the difficulty of laying pipes through the congested streets within a short period.

Meanwhile, shop owners at Koluthara Bazaar, where a fire broke out on December 30, 2025, completely gutting a toy shop and partially damaging at least 10 other shops, have begun installing firefighting mechanisms to prevent future accidents, said one of the traders.

Soon after the fire, Mayor V.K. Minimol announced a special drive to remove garbage piled up on the streets, posing fire risks. “The area around the market has already been cleared. Stakeholders have been instructed to bring to our notice any instances of garbage piling up that they come across,” the Mayor said.

Scrap godown gutted

In an unrelated incident, a scrap godown near the Ernakulam South overbridge was gutted in a fire on Saturday. Firefighting units from the Club Road and Gandhi Nagar stations extinguished the blaze in the afternoon. No casualties were reported.