2 weeks Ago By Kapil Dixit
1 2 Prayagraj: Taking cognisance of Saturday's fire incident at a godown owned by Lallu Ji Tent & Company, one of the firms that provided supplies to erect massive tents for the recently concluded Maha Kumbh , the authorities of the Prayagraj district fire department on Sunday served notices to as many as seven firms, asking them to shift their godowns to safer places in view of the rising mercury. Chief Fire Officer (Prayagraj) RK Pandey told TOI, "The department has served notices to all seven firms, which had set up their godowns at the parade area and provide supplies to erect tents for the recently held Maha Kumbh, directing them to shift their materials and belongings to safer areas or permanent godowns in view of the rising temperature." He, however, said, "We have stationed four fire tenders on a temporary basis at the parade area in view of existing godowns and are ensuring that the godowns' raw materials are shifted to safer places at the earliest.
" Pandey, meanwhile, said, "Following the Saturday parade inferno incident, the department has also formed five teams to carry out inspection at godowns located across the district to find out whether godown owners or managements have installed advanced firefighting arrangements or not. Besides, the department will also issue an advisory for all godown owners to ensure fire safety equipment and experienced and trained staff to handle fire incidents, if any." The Saturday Parade fire incident proved to be an eye-opener for the fire department, police, and administration, as it gutted property worth lakhs.
Around two dozen people were also injured. The CFO, meanwhile, claimed, "Although there was huge damage to the property of the firm because of its impact, timely action on the part of firemen saved many lives as well as raw materials worth crores. The firefighters took around five hours to completely douse the fire.
Over a dozen fire tenders were engaged in battling the flames, and fire trucks were also called in from neighbouring districts of Prayagraj and Pratapgarh to assist in controlling the situation. During the entire operation, 20 employees of the godown were successfully rescued. However, seven persons, including two officers of the fire department and five employees, sustained burn injuries.
The injured were rushed to hospital for treatment. Around 500 residents of a nearby residential slum were evacuated to safer locations to prevent any casualties.".
