Scars still fresh in their minds

Jaswant Shetra

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, November 20

Life had been moving smoothly for the family of fireman Sukhdev Singh till November 20, 2017, when tragedy struck Amarson Polymers in the Suffian Chowk area. Sukhdev, along with eight fellow firefighters, was killed when the factory collapsed during a fire rescue operation. Sukhdev’s widow, Kamlesh Kaur has been facing all hardships to raise her three minor daughters.

Today was the death anniversary of those killed in the fire incident. The scars of the tragedy are still fresh in the minds of the families of the firefighters who lost their lives in the incident. They are still trying to come out of the agony of the tragic incident. Members of five firefighters’ families received job appointment letters today.

“One month after the death of my husband, I was forced to leave my in-laws’ house along with my three minor daughters due to a dispute over job on the compassionate grounds. My in-laws wanted the job for my brother-in-law but I needed it to raise my daughters,” said Kamlesh Kaur while wiping her tears. She is now living at her paternal house in Paddi village, near Sahnewal.

“Though I received Rs 8 lakh as compensation a few months after the death of my husband, I am still waiting for the job. I have met senior officials of the Municipal Corporation many times. I also met Local Bodies Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu in April and requested him to provide me a job. Though the minister promised me that I shall be given a job soon, not much progress has been made in this regard to date,” said Kamlesh Kaur.

Similar is the story of the family of deceased Manohar Lal, who is survived by wife and two children. “The compensation amount was released seven months after the death of my husband. The government has also started giving pension to me which has been helping me raise my children. My son is 17 years old, thus he is not eligible for a job now. But I am hopeful that he will get a job on the compassionate grounds when he turns 18,” said Usha, the widow of leading fireman Manohar Lal. 

Joint Commissioner of MC Kulpreet Singh said appointment letters were given to the kin of five firefighters who were killed in the tragedy. “There are some technical problems in giving jobs to the kin of the remaining firefighters and we have been trying to sort out these problems. They will also get jobs once these technical issues are cleared,” he said.