KATHMANDU: Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) on Friday said it extinguished fires at 57 locations across the valley during the Gen-Z protests on September 8 and 9.
Speaking at the 43rd KMC Executive Meeting, Bishnu Prasad Joshi, Chief of the Metropolitan Disaster Management Division, rejected claims that the city failed to deploy fire services when government structures, including Singha Durbar and the Supreme Court, were set ablaze.
“We received a call at 1 pm on September 8 about a fire on Shantinagar road near an ambulance. We also controlled fires on an electric pole and a motorcycle in Sundhara,” Joshi said. “However, after clashes erupted in New Baneshwor around 3 pm, it was not possible to deploy fire trucks there.”
He added that simultaneous fires across Kathmandu on September 9 made firefighting extremely challenging.
“While moving fire trucks from Basantapur, we faced pressure to extinguish fires at Jansewa and Himalayan Bank. Another fire truck from Chabahil was pelted with stones. Even a military escort vehicle protecting our trucks was attacked, forcing us to retreat to safer locations,” Joshi said.
Joshi also clarified that claims suggesting Lalitpur Metropolitan’s fire trucks responded to the Supreme Court fire were false.
“We requested support from Lalitpur as per protocol. It was not a unilateral deployment by them,” he said.
According to Joshi, KMC had five active fire trucks at the time, two deployed at Singha Durbar and the rest sent to other areas.
“At the Hilton Hotel, water could not reach higher floors, but we attempted rescue and control operations at all other locations to the best of our ability,” he added.
The statement comes amid criticism of KMC Mayor Balen Shah for allegedly not acting promptly to control fires during the protests, which also targeted government and historic structures.
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