One’s lifelong exertions could be changed into ashes in a fraction of a second. A million birr worth material wealth could suffer destruction on the wake of a certain disastrous incident. People become bankrupt in a second.
No sane person wants something untoward happen on him or her.
The aforementioned themes are global but when we assess the enormity of the damage locally it becomes frightening. The accident frequency is still increasing. Most of the problems surface due to careless use of electricity.
In Addis Ababa fire-related accidents are increasingly-posing challenges. The report shows that fire-related accidents are surfacing every day. The government often tries to give a quick fix to the problems as an emergency action.
The quarterly plan and performance report shows us that more than 700 accidents had surfaced out of which 150 are due to conflagration. Out of the latter seventy are ascribable to the gutting down of residential houses. The rest are factories and commercial houses.
Recently, the city administration has managed to deploy firefighter vehicles, ambulances, crane-bearing emergency vehicles and skilled personnel for emergency accidents, heavy fire truck and cars helpful for unexpected flood. All these are made possible with an outlay of big budget. In Addis, more than one person is injured every day.
The accident may happen due to the collapse of an old traditional toilet. People living with disability may fall into ditches left unfilled after road maintenance or water pipe line installation activities.
Everywhere in Addis, many buildings and government infrastructural facilities are being built. As a result of this activity, elders, children and people living with disability are facing challenges related to roadblocks, left there due to failure to haul them in due time.
The commission’s communication expert Silesh Tesfaye noted that new technology -based machine of 200 hydrants will be put in place in different parts of the city. There were water storage hydrants in Addis. But they could not address the whole problem of the city. As a result of this the office was confronted by hurdles to fetch water and reach on the accident scenes on time. The new 200 big water storage hydrant will be put in place around public service institutions, city Administrative buildings, health centers, apartments, condominiums, real estates and star hotels.
The technology costs more than 8 million birr. The hydrants will be planted underground in different parts of the city. First identifying the free spaces will be done. The commission expert indicates that there is a need for a precautious tasks such as not to use hydrants for parking services. the upper part is free and use it for car parking. It will be damaged soon. There are lots of hydrants that cannot give service due to same problem..
So, we traditionally open doors for conflagrations that surface for various reasons and damage every infrastructure and technology meant for warding off the challenge. Commercial houses that become subject to the problem include like gold smiths, raiment shops, sponge factories and individual houses.
Fire-related accidents were very large in the past. Predictably they are likely to persist for many years to come, because misuse of electronics machines. The way we use them are full of carelessness.
The expert indicated, citizens reckless use of electricity makes people to pay a lot. So citizens must be always alert and take special caution to parry conflagration in areas having easily combustible things.
It is then and only then citizen will make themselves and their environments safe.
Let us create safe environment for threat-free era…
(ddagne40@gmail.com/0929140485)
The Ethiopian Herald Sunday February 2/2020
BY DESALEGN DAGNEW
