Anantnag, Oct 2: By the time flames engulfed Mungli village at 11:30 pm Wednesday, there was no fire tender nearby.
Residents fought the blaze for more than five hours as eight houses and several cowsheds were gutted, livestock were killed, and 13 families were left homeless.
Fire tenders arrived from Kokernag in south Kashmir, about 80 km away over difficult terrain.
The fire was brought under control around 4 am after residents used an L&T excavator to pull down burning structures and stop the flames from spreading.
“We have lost everything – our belongings and, most importantly, our home. I have four little daughters and a wife. Where will we go in this cold weather?” said Abdul Aziz Koka, 35, a physically challenged labourer.
For the widow Jana Begum, 67, the fire left nothing to salvage.
“We couldn’t salvage anything,” she said.
Begum’s two married sons and her youngest son, along with their families, lived in the same house, while her three daughters are married.
“It was dark, so it took over five hours for fire tenders to reach here from Larnoo-Kokernag and Achabal,” Koka said.
The delayed response has once again raised concerns over the absence of fire stations in Warwan and Marwah, despite a promise made two years ago.
On October 14, 2024, a major fire in Mulwarwan village of Warwan destroyed about 85 houses and left scores of families homeless.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah visited the village three days later and announced one fire station each for Warwan and Marwah, besides an ambulance.
Two years later, neither valley has a dedicated fire station or a locally stationed fire tender.
“We have been requesting the authorities for a long time to establish a fire station, but nothing has been done, even after the Chief Minister himself promised it,” said Muzafar Rather, a local social activist from Mungli who also lost his ancestral house.
In the latest fire, a local contractor’s L&T excavator helped residents keep the flames from spreading further.
“Luckily, a local contractor working in the area had an L&T machine, and this became the reason that fire was controlled. Had it not been there, the entire village would have been reduced to ashes,” Rather said.
The Mungli fire comes against the backdrop of repeated fires in the twin valleys.
More than 100 houses were gutted in Sukhnai village of Warwan in 2014.
In the following years fires also swept through Margi, Uriwan, and Choidraman in Warwan and Nawpachi in Marwah, damaging dozens of houses and leaving families without shelter.
The unfulfilled promise has also drawn political reaction.
PDP President and former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti questioned the status of the promised fire stations following the Mungli blaze.
She asked the government why the fire stations and fire tenders promised for Warwan and Marwah nearly two years ago had not become operational.
Mufti also called for immediate compensation and prefabricated shelters for families who lost their homes, saying they should not be left exposed as winter approaches.
Member of Parliament Sajad Kichloo visited the affected families and provided Rs 10,000 each to the 13 families as immediate relief.
Residents reminded him of the 2024 promise, and he assured them the matter would be taken up.
Inderwal MLA PyareLal Sharma raised the issue in the Assembly.
“The land has been identified but the service stations are nowhere to be seen. This is the reason for major fires in the area, resulting in heavy losses,” he said.
Warwan and Marwah comprise about 40 villages and have nearly 40,000 residents.
The twin valleys have no direct road connection with Kishtwar district headquarters, and residents have to travel about 60 km of difficult mountainous terrain to reach Dachhan.
The nearly 100-km Anantnag-Margan Top-Warwan road connects the twin valleys with Kokernag in south Kashmir.
Opened in 2007, the road is not all-weather and remains closed for several months each winter, making emergency access more difficult.
Fire incidents are relatively common during autumn and winter, when residents stock large quantities of dry grass and fodder for livestock.
Officials have advised residents against storing dry fodder inside or close to residential structures, warning that it can accelerate the spread of fire.
As winter approaches, Warwan and Marwah continue to wait for the fire stations promised two years ago.
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