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The recent tragedy in which a major blaze gutted 148 shops at the Sector 9 rehri market has exposed the ill-equipped fire stations in Panchkula. The lack of preparedness in dealing with emergencies came to the fore after fire tenders had to be rushed in from Panchkula, Dera Bassi, Chandigarh, Kalka and Pinjore to douse the fire at the market.

There are currently four fire stations in Panchkula district - in Sector 5, Kalka, Barwala and Sector 20. Chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar had inaugurated the stations in Barwala and Sector 20 in 2020 to cater to trans ghaggar sectors, where high-rise buildings are coming up.

But, for the two new stations, not a single post has been sanctioned yet and employees have been deputed there from the main station in Sector 5.

As per data sourced by HT, only 74 of the 91 sanctioned posts have been filled at the Sector 5 and Kalka stations, of which only 14 are regular employees. There is one fire station officer, three sub-fire station officers, and seven out of nine sanctioned posts of leading firemen are filled. Out of 77 sanctioned posts of fire-operators/driver, 63 have been filled.

An officer wishing not to be named, said:,“The fire station in Sector 5 is working at one-third of the staff strength as 50% staff is deputed at Sector 20 and Barwala and 25% on VIP duty.”

“The Panchkula fire department had sought 26-27 new staffers for both new centres, but we are still waiting,” another officer said.

The ill-equipped and under-staffed fire stations are also burdened with VIP duties. In August, they received 18 calls for fire emergencies and 56 VIP duty calls.

The officer said: “Two to three fire tenders are out on VIP duty almost every other day. There are days when CMs and governors of three adjoining states have to pass through the city, which means one fire tender is with each of them and another in stationed at the venue.”

Haryana fire services deputy director, Gulshan Kalra, said: “The recruitment process has to be conducted by the Haryana Kaushal Rozgar Nigam (HKRM). We have sent the demand and are hoping that hiring will begin soon.”

Not only are they dealing with crippling staff crunch, the fire stations also lack adequate equipment to deal with emergencies. The only hydraulic platform at the Sector 5 station is non-functional which will make dealing with fires in high-rise buildings problematic.

The fire station has sought two hydraulic ladders, for Sectors 5 and 20, from the director of fire department. There is not even a single advance rescue tender available with firemen here, whereas demand for four has been sent

“It is a must in case of major fire break-outs, as it has fire entry suits, breathing apparatus, and chemical resistant suits. It has life detector devices, thermal imaging, glass breakers and oxygen cylinders. It has everything needed by a fireman in an emergency,” a fire officer said.

There are only three water tenders , foam crash tenders and water boozers available with the stations and they have demanded f five more. Also, seven water bousers have been sought against the three that are currently available.

“We have demanded these equipment twice or thrice. It was last in April, when the demand was sent to the director, fire service,” an officer said.

“There is a hydraulic platform and we have allotted a few vehicles and more will be allotted soon. There is no shortage of equipment,” said Kalra.

Tanbir Dhaliwal is a correspondent at Chandigarh. She covers health and business. ...view detail

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