Despite approval, Abohar MC fails to appoint firemen

ABOHAR: Even as the Director, Local Bodies, had on May 6, 2014, informed the Punjab and Haryana High Court that approval had been granted to the Abohar Municipal Council on April 16 to appoint three drivers and five firemen on contract basis for the ill-equipped fire station, no staff has been appointed.

The fire station complex in Abohar. Tribune Photo

Raj Sadosh

Abohar, November 29

Even as the Director, Local Bodies, had on May 6, 2014, informed the Punjab and Haryana High Court that approval had been granted to the Abohar Municipal Council on April 16 to appoint three drivers and five firemen on contract basis for the ill-equipped fire station, no staff has been appointed. The Director’s submission was during the hearing of a public interest litigation filed by local legislator Sunil Jakhar on February 13, 2014.

The High Court had on September 7 pulled up the Local Bodies department for the delay in providing fire tenders to the Abohar MC, which had in March 2013 grounded both fire vehicles stating that they were not even worth repair.

On December 23, the state government provided a small fire-fighting vehicle, with a storage capacity of 400 litres of water, to the MC here. It could not be used for six months as documents were to be prepared. As the petitioner moved contempt plea, the state later provided two more vehicles. The council had last year initiated the process to appoint staff. Physical eligibility and oral tests were held at the Nehru Stadium but the file is yet to be cleared by the state headquarters.

Fire station in charge Gurjant Singh said the subdivision was known for cotton and paddy produce, oil and cotton industries. He said, “The fire station needs 12 drivers and 36 firemen. But only one driver has been borrowed on ad hoc basis from the Bathinda Municipal Corporation. There are only four firemen and one of them had sustained injuries while controlling fire at a ghee factory near Kheowali village. “When I and firemen leave the station on VIP duty or fire control exercise, none is left to attend even phone calls. The council has not even provided toilets at the fire complex, he added.

Legislator Sunil Jakhar said Abohar’s people were “a victim of political vendetta and this was the only reason that the state government was not interested in filling the vacancies here”.

He said: “It is crystal clear that because of party politics, the government is not ready to take action despite the fact that their own officials are intimating them about the miserable condition of the fire brigade office. Abohar was a major producer of cotton crop. It was, in fact, known as the “cotton belt of the state”. As such, the chances of fire were more. “Is it not strange that the state government has not been able to appoint a regular executive officer and engineer for the Abohar council?” he asked.