16 fire incidents in Amritsar city during Diwali celebrations
As many as 16 fire incidents were reported in the city during Diwali on Sunday. However, no casualty or major injury has been reported.
As many as 16 fire incidents were reported in the city during Diwali on Sunday. However, no casualty or major injury has been reported.
Keeping a close eye on the fireworks, the municipal corporation (MC) had constituted 15 squads of the fire department that paid regular visits to different areas of the city and the surrounding areas, to prevent any untoward incident.
Sub fire officer Lovepreet Singh said, “We received 18 calls last night, one of the major incidents was reported from Rajiv Gandhi Nagar, near Gobindgarh Fort. It took us two hours to douse off the flames.”
“The fire occurred due to crackers as one of the fireworks barged into a house and charred it. However, we were able to save the residents as well as the adjoining houses,” he added.
Fire incidents were also reported from Queens Road, Islamabad, Maqboolpura, Shiv Nagar, Batala Road, Thandi Khui, opposite Company Bagh and Gate Hakima localities.
Another major fire incident took place in a shop at Jandiala Guru town, in Tarn Tarn district, which also comes under the jurisdiction of Amritsar fire brigade.
One fire incident was reported from Amarkot village, where a street vend full of crackers caught fire after a cracker fell on it.
Ahead of the festive season, the fire department got new fire-safety equipments including six fire tenders of the latest technology. Of them, four Hyderabad-made tenders were given by Punjab local bodies minister Anil Joshi to meet the disasters.
“The new fire tenders helped the 15 teams as they were equipped with new technology,” said fire brigade officials.
Day after, pathankot looks like a dump yard
Pathankot: A large amount of garbage and pollution has covered Pathankot, heaps of garbage and smog caused by use of crackers can be seen in the city, a day after Diwali.
The residents are throwing empty boxes of crackers and the residuals on the roads to clean their homes while many burnt the remains of the cracker boxes to get rid of the dumps piling up in their neighbourhood. The municipal corporation staff cleaned the main markets and was busy the whole day in trying to clean the cracker dumps.
The administration should take action against people who are burning the cracker garbage after the festival, said BD Chugh, president Jan Jagran Manch. “The residents need to understand the health hazards after they burn crackers causing in smog over the city which will ultimately be inhaled by them only,” he added. MC should hire more staff to clear the garbage faster and avoid it being burnt, said local resident Bal Krishan.
Awareness programmes on pollution seems to be of little help as nobody seems concerned over the increasing pollution and its bad effects, he said.
MC mayor Anil Vasudeva claimed that his staff is swiftly clearing the city but the residents should also support them.