Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday that fire audit and electrical safety audits of hospitals and other public places must be undertaken regularly.
Several major incidents of fire have been reported from various parts of the country during the past few weeks. On May 25, seven children were killed in a massive fire at Delhi’s Baby Care New Born Hospital. Another major fire tragedy in Rajkot’s gaming zone resulted in 27 fatalities.
Chairing a meeting to review the situation arising from the ongoing heatwave in the country and the preparedness for the onset of monsoon at his residence at 7, Lok Kalyan Marg earlier in the day, the prime minister called for proper drills for preventing and handling incidents of fire must be done on a regular basis.
During the meeting, Modi said regular drills for the maintenance of fire-line in forests and productive utilisation of the biomass must be planned.
“The prime minister was informed about the usefulness of the “van agni” portal in timely identification of forest fires and its management,” the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said in a statement.
“During the meeting, the prime minister was briefed that as per IMD forecasts, the heat wave is likely to continue in parts of Rajasthan, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh,” the PMO said in the statement.
This year, the monsoon is likely to be normal and above normal in most parts of the country and below normal in parts of Peninsular India.
The principal secretary to the PM, Cabinet secretary, home secretary, secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences, DG NDRF, and member secretary, NDMA along with other senior officials from PMO and Ministries concerned were also present in the meeting.
Most states in northern and central India have been under the spell of an intense heatwave, with temperatures exceeding 45 degrees Celsius in many cities.