Punjab government will soon have a fire safety training centre, which will be equipped with state-of-the-art facilities.
The Local Bodies Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu said on Sunday that a plan amounting Rs 500 crore has been submitted to the Directorate General of Fire Services and Civil Defence, aimed at transforming the fire services sector in the state.
He said the state has been assured of all possible assistance by the Centre in this regard.Besides, a separate project worth Rs 262.50 Crore has been submitted to the Union Urban Development Ministry, he added. The Minister further stated that the fire services sector till date has been largely ignored which accounted for the numerous fire accidents in Punjab.
He said he had instructed the department to prepare detailed project reports to redress the issue. The Centre had granted approval for the opening of a fire safety training centre. We also got a favourable response from the Union Minister of State for Urban Development HardeepPuri to whom a project of Rs 262 Crore was submitted.
Special care would be taken by the Punjab government to ensure that no fireman goes into the fire extinguishing operations without ultra modern fire suit. The Fire Prevention and Fire Safety Act would be enforced strictly to put a stop to the fire tragedies and those violating the law would be strictly proceeded against, he added.