24-hr ‘langar’ for weary kolkata bridge rescuers

Shubhadeep Choudhury

Tribune News Service

Kolkata, September 5

As a policeman and a couple of other rescue workers munch bread pakoras contentedly, Satnam Singh Ahluwalia and his friends watch them benevolently.

Ahluwalia, general secretary of the gurdwara in the Behala area of Kolkata, was among the first who landed at the spot when the flyover at Majerhat crashed on Tuesday with a deafening thud. “The police were already there and they were trying to rescue people trapped inside the vehicles that came down with the flyover. We arranged first aid for the injured,” Ahluwalia said.

As it became evident that rescue work was going to be a long drawn affair, the gurdwara committee decided to arrange food for rescue workers round the clock.

“Behala Gurdwara Sahib will be providing langar, tea and water till the rescue operations are complete,” Ahluwalia said.