Gurugram fire dept cancels all leaves, ramps up Diwali deployment

All leaves cancelled till Wednesday; 260 personnel deployed at seven fire stations and 10 city vantage points.

The fire department has cancelled all leaves of its personnel for round-the-clock deployment across the city during Diwali, officials said on Saturday. Firefighters have been directed to work in 12-hour shifts till Wednesday instead of their routine eight-hour duty to ensure quick response to any emergency, officials added.

Gurugram fire dept, police, and traders coordinate safety drills to tackle Diwali fire hazards in congested markets. (HT Archive)

According to fire department officials, 75 vehicles, including water tenders, bowsers and small firefighting units, have been kept on standby to respond to any alert received from any part of Gurugram. Gulshan Kalra, joint director, Gurugram fire department, said that of these 75 vehicles, 10 have been arranged from private firms such as DLF, Maruti India Limited and Haldiram to be deployed at short notice if needed.

To be sure, Gurugram currently has a total strength of 260 firefighters and contractual employees from the Haryana Kaushal Rojgar Nigam deployed at seven fire stations across the district.

“We have identified at least 10 vantage points in the city where tenders along with a firefighting team will remain deployed round the clock in standby mode for quick dispatch so that they could reach any spot even before a team from a fire station arrives,” Kalra said, adding that directions for this deployment were issued on Saturday.

Officials said the identified points include Sikanderpur metro station, Sadar Bazaar, Daultabad-Dwarka Expressway chowk, Bhuteshwar temple on Khandsa Road, Radha Swami Satsang temple at Kadipur chowk, near NCU University in Sector 32, Palam Vihar, IMT Manesar chowk and Badshahpur. Fire tenders will be stationed at these locations from 8am on Sunday till 8am on Tuesday, as these areas are densely populated and see heavy footfall during the festival period.

Jai Narayan, fire officer of Sector 29 fire station, said that coordination has also been established with fire stations in neighbouring districts for additional support if required. “We have prepared a list of more than 100 locations from where our tenders or bowsers could be refilled quickly without being required to travel a longer distance. Most of these locations are factories or industries where high power pumping sets are available,” he said.

Meanwhile, Gurugram police officials said they have conducted marches with fire department personnel across crowded market areas such as Sadar Bazaar to alert shopkeepers and ensure preparedness. Sandeep Turan, public relations officer of Gurugram police, said, “Police stations are coordinating with the fire department so that their teams get easy access to internal areas. Security deployments have been made in crowded places and market areas. Besides, we have also coordinated with traders for use of handheld fire extinguishers.”