Thiruvananthapuram Fire and Emergency Safety Guide

On 28 August 2016 a closed textile godown on the third floor of a building near the Padmanabhaswamy Temple caught fire. Nearly 20 fire engines worked for about four hours and drew water from the temple pond, and nine engines at the nearest station were reported to be in disrepair, so tight lanes and old stock are a real worry here.

On 23 May 2023 a fire broke out in the early hours at a state medicine godown in the KINFRA park at Thumba, where medicines and chemicals were stored. It took several hours to put out and a firefighter died during the operation.

Over 14 to 16 October 2023, the city got 211.4 mm of rain in 24 hours and stayed flooded for about 48 hours, and about 550 people moved to 17 relief centres. Thampanoor and Pazhavangadi have flooded before, as on 8 May 2018, when drains blocked with waste overflowed into houses.

Cyclone Ockhi formed as a depression off Sri Lanka on 29 November 2017 and reached the southern tip of India on 30 November, and Thiruvananthapuram district was among the worst affected, with many fishermen missing. Fishing families at Vizhinjam said the warning had reached them late.

The ten day Attukal festival in February or March has its Pongala on the ninth day, and more than three million women are reported to take part. Hearths along city streets and very large crowds are a fire and crush risk in a city of this size.