Ludhiana: As Divali is around the corner, fire brigade officials are on their toes to check related arrangements in the city for quick response towards fire incidents. As of now, they have decided to establish five temporary fire stations at various locations in the city and along with this, tubewells will be kept ready for refilling of fire tenders so that there should not be any delay in handling of the situation. On Divali night, due to cracker bursting fire incidents take place at many locations and so fire officials remain on high alert.
There are only five fire stations in the city, which are not enough as fire tenders get stuck in traffic jams during festival time. Keeping this in mind, temporary fire stations will be established at Jalandhar bypass, Sherpur chowk, Samrala chowk, Dandi Swami and Bharat Nagar chowk. One fire tender will remain stationed at each location for speedy response and fire tenders from permanent fire stations will then follow suit.
Sub-fire officer Navrang Singh said on Divali night, fire incidents increase and sometimes these take place at one time, so they would have to keep the staff ready. He said apart from this, they had asked for drivers from the MC and those drivers would join a day before Divali or on the morning of Divali. He claimed that they would try to control the situation but even people should remain alert while busting crackers.
Meanwhile, crackers shops have been established at various locations and for stationing fire tenders near these locations shopkeepers will have to deposit Rs 2,000 per shop, along with other fire safety arrangements like fire extinguishers, sand buckets and water tubs. Earlier, fire brigade used to take Rs 25,000 for one fire tender near these cracker markets but now the state government has fixed Rs 2,000 per shop price.
Fire brigade to check hydrants in old markets
Ahead of Divali, the fire officials will conduct checking of fire hydrants in old markets of the city. These hydrants are checked only once around Divali and if found in working condition, then water can be arranged from these hydrants. Markets like Dal bazaar, Chawal bazaar, Ghas Mandi, etc. have hydrants installed inside. A few of the tubewells will also be kept ready for the refilling of fire tenders, if required, and staff will be deployed at these tubewells from November 13 to 15.
Last Divali had witnessed lesser fire incidents
Last year, on Diwali, fewer fire incidents had taken place. Except for a few major incidents, most of the incidents had happened on vacant plots. Even this year, lesser incidents have taken place due to closure of factories. The fire officials are hopeful that there will be lesser incidents even this time.