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Ludhiana: 43 distress calls keep firefighters on their toes on Diwali
At least 11 incidents of fire were reported from fabric and hosiery units in Shivpuri, Kali Sarak, and Focal Point among other areas of Ludhiana on Diwali
Forty-three distress calls kept the firefighters of Ludhiana busy on Diwali. At least 11 incidents of fire at fabric and hosiery factories in Shivpuri, Kali Sarak, Focal Point, Azad Nagar, Dhuri Line, Rama Road, and Upkar Nagar were reported on Thursday evening, officials said.
Other than these, seven calls were received pertaining to fire in residential areas and a few incidents were witnessed at vacant plots, garbage dumps, shops and houses.
Though no casualty was reported according to the officials, goods and machinery worth lakhs were gutted.
In one such major fire accident at a hosiery factory located in Santokh Nagar’s Street 9, Shivpuri, entire stock of goods, including jackets and sweatshirts, kept on the ground floor was gutted after a sky cracker landed on them through the grilles of a ventilator around 8.30pm.
The furniture of the shop along with a shed in the factory and heavy machinery perished in the fire.
“We have lost our complete stock which was ready for sale for the winter season. Everything placed on the ground floor has been destroyed. We were already struggling with finances amid the Covid pandemic and now this fire has left us devastated,” said Parvesh Tyagi, brother of the owner.
He added that children were bursting crackers on the street outside his factory.
Meanwhile, MC zonal commissioner Jasdev Sekhon said that fire department teams did well to control the situation, but the narrow lanes of the area and cars parked in the passage caused a lot of trouble for the fire tenders to reach the spot.
In another similar case, a fire broke out at Adi Knit Fab factory located on Kali Sarak, where goods worth lakhs were gutted.
Rajinder Singh, leading fireman in Ludhiana, said it took around two hours to douse the violent flames.
“The reason behind the incident is yet to be ascertained, but it took four fire tenders to douse the blaze,” said the fireman.
Additional fire officer Swaran Chand said the fire team received the first call at 7.30pm related to a fire in a shop at Dana Mandi and the last distress call was made at 4.30 am.
“Since our teams were already deputed at the prime locations in the district, we managed to control the situation in time. At least 150 fire tenders were used to extinguish the flames on Diwali, Chand said.
The Ludhiana fire department that is equipped with 17 big fire tenders, four small fire tenders and four motorbikes to control the blaze, is struggling with shortage of staff.
Electrician dies of power shock
An electrician was electrocuted to death while installing LED lights at a house in Iqbalganj area on the occasion of Diwali, police said on Friday.
The victim has been identified as Ajay Kumar, 23, of Kutbewal in Jalandhar.
ASI Sahib Singh, who is investigating the case, said that Ajay used to install Diwali lights on houses. “Some of the families of Iqbalganj area had called on him to decorate their houses with fancy lights,” he added.
However, while installing lights, he suffered an electric shock and died at the spot. The victim was unmarried, the ASI said.
The cop added that the police have initiated inquest proceedings under Section 174 of the CrPC.
The Division Number 3 police have handed over the victim’s body to his family members after autopsy.
