Tremors trigger panic

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Punjab has one battalion of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), comprising 12 teams, stationed at Bathinda permanently. Each team has 40 trained personnel. Two teams are stationed permanently in Ladhowal near Ludhiana. There are only 12 battalions of NDRF across the country.

Jaideep Singh, Commandant, NDRF at Bathinda said the battalion is responsible to provide its services in Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh along with UT Chandigarh.

“Every state is required to prepare its own State Disaster Response Force. While HP has none and J&K team is ill-equipped, the NDRF battalion stationed in Punjab is responsible for the three states and UT the apart from any international disaster. Recently, we led rescue operations in Srinagar floods and Nepal earthquake. In the past two years, we have trained more than 400 personnel of Punjab Armed Police (PAP) for the purpose,” added Singh.

As per the law, 400 firemen are required to manage the Ludhiana district but the fire wing has only 16 leading firemen and 30 firemen, besides 15 fire tenders and 12 drivers.

The three fire stations in the district, Machhiwara, Doraha and Sahnewal, none of three stations have no fire brigade yet.
Recently, during the ammonia gas leak incident in Doraha, the fire teams were called in from Samrala and Khanna .Assistant Divisional Fire Officer, Ludhiana, Bhupinder Singh confirmed that posts of more than 80 firemen are lying vacant as of now. “We are hopeful of filling the posts before Diwali this year,” he said.

Dalip Singh, Additional Chief Secretary and Financial Commissioner, Revenue and Disaster Management, said, “We have received reports from across the state. There is no loss of life or property in any part of the state.”