Council demands garages, chemical godowns relocation to industrial zones

Male City Council on Thursday urged the government to relocate garages, workshops and chemical warehouses in residential areas into industrial zones.

The council made the call in a statement issued in the wake of the deadly fire that broke out at the labour quarter at M. Nirufehi house Thursday morning. 

Ten migrant workers living in the labour quarter have died in one of the most despairing fires to ever go up in the country. Among them, nine were Indians and one was a Bangladeshi as confirmed by a trusted source.

According to the army, the fire broke out in the garage on the ground floor of the building. However, residents of the area said the fire broke out on top. People lived on two floors built above the garage.

Demanding action against those found guilty of negligence in the incident, the city council said it is working closely with the concerned authorities to reduce such untoward incidents and take precautionary measures.

Thus:

Taking note of this, the council demanded that places like garages, workshops and chemical godowns in the residential areas be relocated into industrial zones.

"We call upon all concerned authorities to make arrangements for relocation of such places with immediate effect, even if to utilize the unused spaces in the industrial village of the city," it said.

The council also called on garages and workshop owners to ensure that safety measures are in place and to work towards implementing them. 

President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has said that the government's goal is to relocate garages to non-residential areas and said that it is already too late to do so. Speaking to the media at the site of the fire, President Solih said that the government has plans to relocate such places to Thilafushi and Gulhifalhu.

With no response from the Planning Ministry, there is no further information on the government's efforts to shift the chemical warehouses to areas far away from the public.