With no fire station in sight, fire tenders arrived from Anantnag

Anantnag, Oct 14: It took fire tenders over four hours to reach the remote Warwan area in Kishtwar district after a massive blaze engulfed one of the villages.

With no fire station in place, tenders from Kokernag in neighbouring Anantnag district were deployed.

However, by the time those arrived, most of the Mulwarwan village, home to around 100 households, had already been reduced to ashes.

An official said that initial reports suggest 50 houses had been damaged in an inferno.

“The fire tenders from Anantnag reached here by evening. The locals fought hard and brought the fire under control,” Naib Tehsildar Warwan, Manzoor Ahmad told Greater Kashmir.

He said that there had been no loss of lives and that the assessment of loss to property would be known by tomorrow.

The picturesque twin valleys of Warwan and Marwa, nestled between the Pir Panjal mountain range, are spread across 40 villages with a population of nearly 40,000.

Yet, these remain disconnected from Kishtwar district headquarters.

Villagers have to trek 60 km of treacherous mountainous terrain to reach Dachan on the Kishtwar side.

The only surface link, the 100-km Marwa-Warwan-Margan Top road that opened in 2007 connects the region to Kokernag in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district.

However, it is not an all-weather route and remains closed for at least six months every year.

The lack of a basic fire station has led to many villages being destroyed by fire.

The fire broke out this afternoon in a cowshed belonging to Shahid Hussain in Murwarwan village and quickly spread, fueled by strong winds.

Several houses were engulfed in the blaze, and despite the desperate attempts of the villagers to control the flames, the fire ravaged the entire village.

Locals expressed their frustration saying that their repeated pleas for a fire station in both Marwa and Warwan had gone unheard.

“We have been requesting the authorities for a long time to establish a fire station, but nothing has been done,” said Rouf Lone, a local social activist.

This is not the first time a small fire has led to such widespread destruction.

It is the fifth reported fire incident in 15 years.

In 2014, the entire Sukhnai village, comprising over 100 houses, was gutted.

Similar fires have devastated the villages of Margi, Vir Warwan, and Choidraman.

Last year, dozens of houses were destroyed in a fire in Nawpachi village in Marwa Valley.

Today’s incident has left the villagers in despair.

“We have lost everything – our belongings and, most importantly, our home. We are a family of 10. Where will we go in this cold weather?” Adil Ahmad, a resident of the village, said.

He said that the devastation could have been prevented had a fire station been in place.