Tribune News Service
Ludhiana, January 3
Firemen had struggled for 18 hours to completely douse the flames at SK Bikes, a prominent firm of the bicycle-manufacturing hub here. They continued operations overnight without break.
Factory sans NO objection Certificate
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The Focal Point factory owner has not obtained no-objection certificate from the Fire Department and the factory had no fire safety arrangements. There was no water at the factory to refill the fire engines and we had to send the vehicles to the nearby fire stations. — SN Sharma, station fire officer
Station fire officer SN Sharma said the fire was intense due to which the firemen continued firefighting operations for 18 hours. Around 70 firemen were put on the job to douse the flames and as many as 250 fire engines were used in turns.
“The factory owner has not obtained no-objection certificate from the Fire Department and the factory had no fire safety arrangements. There was no water at the factory to refill the fire engines and we had to send the vehicles to the nearby fire stations. Fire engines from Samrala, Khanna and the Sahnewal airport, and even from private institutions such as Varadhman and Oster groups joined in the firefighting operations,” said Sharma.
Fire officials said the government needed to take stringent steps to make establishments follow the fire safety norms. “Though we managed to control the fire in 18 hours, it would have been a disaster, had the fire spread to the nearby factories,” said a fire official, requesting anonymity.
