On that fateful morning of May 27 this year, when fire threatened to engulf Cloth Bazar Road at Broadway, the biggest challenge before the Fire and Rescue Services personnel was accessing the accident spot.

It took almost 30 minutes for fire tenders to reach the spot after clearing roads by removing indiscriminately packed vehicles and raising power lines and cables drawn all over the area.

The city was saved of a major catastrophe that day as the fire was contained before it could wipe out the trade centre.

A few weeks later, the risk of fire and other accidents remains alive at Broadway, which was once the commercial hub of Kochi.

Parking of vehicles, mostly two-wheelers, is back in the area. Street vendors and makeshift stalls selling everything from clothes to electronic equipment and sunglasses have once again usurped the footpaths, pushing pedestrians on to the road.

Incidentally, the much-hyped demolition drive launched by the Kochi Corporation days after the fire accident has fizzled out.

The civic body also failed to keep its promise to periodically inspect the area to ensure that the roads were not encroached upon.

Most of the buildings in the area were constructed more than 80 years ago, making them vulnerable to accidents. The shops lack modern firefighting and rescue equipment.

In the gutted shop at Broadway, only a few fire extinguishers were found, and they could not be used as the fire had broken out before the beginning of business hours, said a Fire and Rescue Services official.

The Broadway improvement projects, which would have changed the face of the business area, have reached nowhere.

Some trade representatives said the authorities were turning a blind eye to blatant violations taking place in the area, thereby, contributing to its decline.

Illegal practices

There were a few traders at Broadway, engaged in illegal practices such as renting out table spaces in their shops to small-time traders for daily rent, said P.A.M. Ibrahim, district president of the Kerala Vyapari Vyasayi Ekopana Samithi.

Most of the pathways around Broadway were occupied by street vendors, who carried out business with the support of persons with criminal background, he said, adding that such traders even offered protection money to those elements.

The police and the civic authorities had failed to curb such practices, said Mr. Ibrahim.

Regulation of vehicles

Kerala Merchants Chamber of Commerce president V.A. Yousuf has suggested a slew of measures for infusing life back into the business hub, including a proposal for preventing the entry and parking of vehicles at Broadway.

While restricting the entry of vehicles into the area, the authorities should create parking spaces and multi-level parking facility for accommodating the vehicles. There should be roofing for Broadway that extended to a distance of nearly 600 metres, he said.

The street should be reserved for pedestrians, which would help in attracting more customers to the area, he added.

Mr. Yousuf said the 256 traders, who were earning their livelihood from the shops, should be rehabilitated before initiating any development project.

The traders could not be expected to shut their shops and wait for the projects to be completed. The traders were in agreement for improving the facilities at Broadway and the organisation had offered its support for removing illegal encroachments from the area, he added.

‘Close watch’

Meanwhile, a civic official said the Corporation had asked its Revenue officials to keep a close watch on shops in the area from where the authorities had removed illegal structures during the two-day drive. After the demolition drive that removed 45 encroachments, there had not been any action there, he added.

Rights of vendors

Kerala Samsthana Cherukida Vyapara Sangadana president T.B. Mini said the increasing number of street vendors and the delay on the part of the authorities in implementing the provisions of the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act had worsened the situation in Kochi.

The civic authorities were supposed to have identified specific zones for street vendors as envisaged in the Act. Despite several reminders and judicial orders, the Corporation had not taken any step towards implementing the Act.

The Corporation would soon face contempt of court charges for failing to implement the directives of the Kerala High Court, she added.