by
Asif Iqbal Naik
SRINAGAR: At least 8–10 residential houses, including cow sheds, were gutted in a devastating midnight fire at Mungli village in the remote Warwan area of Jammu and Kashmir’s Kishtwar district, exposing once again the lack of dedicated fire-fighting infrastructure in the far-flung region.
The fire was brought under control after local residents, police personnel, officials and others worked to contain the flames. A JCB operator also assisted in the operation. The Fire and Emergency Services Department dispatched a vehicle from Larnoo in Anantnag district, but it reportedly took around three hours to reach the village because of the difficult terrain and distance.
The administration has begun assessing the damage, including losses to residential structures, livestock, ration and other essential food items stocked by families for the winter months.
Residents have criticised successive governments for failing to establish a dedicated fire station in Marwah and Warwan despite repeated demands from people in the remote areas of the Chenab Valley.
Retired Master Haji Ghulam Mohudin Mehru said the incumbent government had also failed to address the long-pending demand. He said residents had raised the issue with Chief Minister Omar Abdullah during his visit to Warwan following the Mulwarwan fire incident.
“People have repeatedly raised this issue, but nothing has practically been done on the ground so far,” Mehru said, expressing concern over the vulnerability of remote villages to major fires.
Residents said Kishtwar district had witnessed dozens of major fire incidents over the past 15–20 years, leaving thousands of houses gutted and causing substantial losses to property and livestock. In 2008, more than 180 houses in Margi village were reportedly gutted in a fire that reduced the village to ashes.
The incident has renewed concerns over emergency response in Warwan and Marwah, where residents say the absence of a nearby fire station can delay firefighting operations, particularly during difficult road and weather conditions.
Warwan also experiences severe winters, with temperatures sometimes falling to around minus 25 degrees Celsius. Residents said the region’s weather conditions often go underreported because it lacks a dedicated weather-monitoring station. They alleged that greater attention is given to established winter tourist destinations such as Pahalgam and Gulmarg, while remote areas such as Warwan remain outside the regular weather-monitoring network.
Residents have renewed their demand for a dedicated Fire and Emergency Services station in Warwan and Marwah, along with improved disaster-response infrastructure and weather-monitoring facilities in the remote belt. absence of a proper weather-monitoring station. They alleged that greater attention is generally focused on established winter tourist destinations such as Pahalgam and Gulmarg, while remote areas like Warwan continue to remain outside the regular weather-monitoring network.
The latest fire has therefore renewed calls for the immediate establishment of a dedicated Fire and Emergency Services station in Warwan and Marwah, along with stronger disaster-response infrastructure and proper weather monitoring facilities in the remote belt.
