Finally, city gets 3 more fire engines

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, October 27

The state government has sent three new fire engines for the city. The authorities received the vehicles today. This has come as a a major relief to the Fire Department ahead of Diwali.

The local fire brigade faces a shortage of fire-safety equipment, including fire engines, hoses, safety kits, etc. There are 13 fire engines with the fire brigade but most of these are obsolete. The staff often complains that these vehicles abruptly stop on the way.

Under the disaster management scheme, the state government had received Rs 45-crore grant from the Centre and it had placed an order for 100 fire engines with a Hyderabad-based company. The government had received 25 fire engines in the first lot, of which three have been allotted to the local MC.

Additional Divisional Fire Officer Bhupinder Singh said they had 13 fire engines which were not sufficient for a big city like Ludhiana. So, the new vehicles would be a huge relief, he added.

Meanwhile, Municipal Commissioner Ghanshyam Thori said upgrade of the fire brigade had been pending for a long time. With the allotment of these fire engines, the process had started. Thori assured that they would get more fire engines under the scheme. They had ordered for five fire safety suits with head masks, keeping in view the safety of the firefighters.