Another hosiery unit goes up in flames

Nikhil Bhardwaj

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, May 19

A major fire broke out at a multi-storey hosiery unit in Jaswant Nagar, Bindra Colony, here on Saturday, where goods and valuables worth several lakhs were gutted.

The factory is situated in the mixed use area, which consists of residential area and it took several hours for the fire tenders to douse the flames.

Fire officials said the factory did not have the requisite fire-safety arrangement, due to which the factory men failed to douse the flames at an initial stage.

The incident occurred around 7 am, when smoke started billowing out from the fourth floor of the ‘New Jainis Hosiery’. Factory owner Laddi Makkar was reportedly sleeping on the fourth floor, when he noticed the smoke. He also sustained minor burns on his arms, while trying to douse the flames. Some workers were also present inside the factory, when the fire broke out, but fortunately no one sustained any burn injuries.

“When we noticed the fire, we started shifting the finished and raw goods to a safer place, but the fire engulfed the entire factory in no time and spread to all four floors. Expensive machinery and raw material including synthetic goods and finished goods was gutted in the incident,” a factory worker told the fire officials.

The police said the factory owner had not revealed about the exact loss he suffered in the incident, however, it is said that the loss could be in crores. The cause is yet to be ascertained.

Over two dozen fire tenders were used to douse the flames. An LPG gas cylinder is also said to have exploded inside the factory, due to which it became difficult to tame the flames. Assistant Divisional Fire Officer Bhupinder Singh said the factory did not have necessary fire-safety arrangement and records were also being checked if it had obtained the NOC from Fire Department or not.

Pet dog, monkey charred to death

Sources said the factory owner had kept three dogs belonging to an expensive breed. He had also kept a monkey reportedly. Two dogs were safely rescued by the factory workers, however, one dog and a monkey are said to have been charred to death as they were tied inside the factory.

Residents told to leave

Since the factory is situated in the residential-cum-industrial area, the fire officials and the police asked people staying nearby to leave their place as a precautionary measure. The firemen said since LPG cylinders and boilers were also lying inside the factory, there was a risk of explosion and if explosion takes place, nearby houses may fall.

Most factories sans NOC, lack of will to blame?

Sources said the Fire Department had not served a single notice to the industrial units in the recent past, where fire incidents were reported despite the fact that most of the industrial units were lacking fire-safety arrangement and many of them had not even obtained the No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the department. Fire officials requesting anonymity said even if they serve notices on industrial units, no action could be taken against these without the implementation of the Fire Safety Act. They asserted that once the Punjab Fire Prevention and Fire Safety Act comes to fore, which is hanging fire for a long time, only then can the Fire Department levy a penalty of Rs50,000 on defaulters.

When Gola Factory in Cheema Chowk collapsed, the MC had planned to serve notice on 55,000 commercial units for not obtaining the NOCs from the fire department, but nothing happened on ground. Only a few hospitals and some commercial establishments were served notices.

Fire incidents this year

• January 10: A fire reported at Vasu Creations on Kakowal Road, where labourers had a narrow escape
• January 25: Another fire incident reported at Varadhman Steels Mill in Focal Point Phase 4
• February 8: A major fire engulfed a hosiery unit located in Bajwa Nagar
• April 29: A plywood factory located on Sua Road in Dhandari goes up in flames. The fire was so intense that the roof of the entire factory collapsed 
• April 3: Four of a family suffered serious burn injuries in a major fire at a computer embroidery unit in Jaswant Nagar near Bindra colony 
• May 4: Forest cover gutted in fire near Tiger Safari
• May 18: Two impounded auto-rickshaws gutted in fire at Daba police station