The Indian Express 15.04.2013
MC honours city’s firemen
A programme was organised to mark the Fire Services Day by the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation at Fire Station, Sector 17. Fire Brigade personnel held a parade that was inspected by Mayor Subhash Chawla, followed by a flag hoisting ceremony.
Fire Services Day has been observed throughout the country since 1944, the year when more than 500 persons including 66 fire brigade personnel lost their lives in a major fire in Mumbai.
Addressing the gathering, the Mayor applauded the bravery of fire personnel during crisis. He said that to inculcate a sense of fire safety in the minds of all concerned and also to minimize the increased losses due to fire outbreaks in high-rise buildings in urban areas and in industries, a special programme would be initiated during the fire prevention week. A survey of fire protection measures in these buildings will be undertaken and expertise will be rendered on the measures required to be taken for ensuring adequate fire safety of the people.
A special campaign on fire safety will be organised in the city schools and to give more emphasis on fire safety, mass awareness activities by conducting fire safety drills in the schools will be held. Features like evacuation drills, implementation of fire safety order 'dos' and 'don'ts' in case of natural and man-made disaster and how to use fire extinguisher etc will be incorporated in fire safety drills.
Earlier, the Mayor, the Commissioner and others laid a wreath and paid homage to fire brigade personnel. A two-minute silence was also observed in memory of all those firemen in the country who lost their lives while on duty. A procession of fire fighting vehicles, including hydraulic turn table ladders, was held.
Eight firemen were honoured on the occasion for their performances during last year. These included Balinder, Dharambir Singh, Satyabir, Kuldeep Singh, Gurlal Singh, Abdul Gani, Sukhwinder Singh and Dharmender Singh.
Not many councillors attended the event. Of 35 councillors, 8 were present. These included four nominated councillors, two from the BJP and one Congress councillor.
