Bengal Govt to set up infrastructure for firefighting from waterways

The State Fire and Emergency Department is gearing up to start firefighting operations from waterways, especially on the Hooghly. For this, a separate unit is going to be created. This will help in tackling fire in places adjacent to the river in a more effective way

The idea is to have a vessel-like thing on the river with firefighting equipment. There are a number of warehouses of Kolkata Port Trust adjacent to the river.

A committee has been formed with police officials and officials from the Fire Department to create a blueprint of the model, according to which the department will move.

While on the Fire Department, it needs to be mentioned that the department is on the fast track to further development. Fifty support vehicles for rapidly carrying equipment and personnel to the site of a fire have been procured.

Fire operators (FO) and auxiliary fire operators (AFO), numbering 1,500 each, would be recruited by June 2018.

জলপথে অগ্নি নির্বাপনের পরিকাঠামো তৈরী করবে রাজ্য সরকার

 

অগ্নি নির্বাপন ও জরুরি পরিষেবা দপ্তর জলপথে অগ্নিনির্বাপনের পরিকাঠামো তৈরী করবে, বিশেষ করে হুগলী নদীতে। এর জন্য আলাদা একটি বিভাগ তৈরি করা হবে। এর মাধ্যমে নদীর লাগোয়া কোনও স্থানে আগুন লাগলে, তা তাড়াতাড়ি আয়ত্বে আনা যাবে।

অগ্নিনির্বাপনের যন্ত্রপাতি সম্বলিত একটি জলজানের তৈরীর পরিকল্পনা আছে রাজ্যের। দমকল দপ্তর খুব শীঘ্র এই ইউনিট তৈরী করতে চায়। এই উদ্দেশ্যে ৫০টি জলযান জোগাড় করা হয়েছে। ২০১৮ সালের জুন মাসের মধ্যে ১৫০০ ফায়ার অপারেটর এবং ১৫০০ অক্সিলিয়ারি ফায়ার অপারেটর নিয়োগ করা হবে।

এই উদ্যোগের জন্য একটি ব্লু-প্রিন্ট তৈরী করতে পুলিশ আধিকারিক ও দমকল দপ্তরের আধিকারিকদের নিয়ে একটি টিম তৈরি করা হয়েছে।

Source: Millennium Post

Vivek Gupta speaks during Zero Hour about the alleged move to shift the Tea Board HQ from Kolkata to Guwahati

Sir, through you, I would like to raise an important issue, the alleged move by the Central Government of trying to shift the Tea Board headquarters from Kolkata to Guwahati.

Sir, as you know, tea is a traditional crop of Bengal. Tea is one of the industries which, by an Act of Parliament, came under the Indian Government. The genesis of the Tea Board of India dates back to 1903 when the Indian Tea Cess Bill was passed. The Tea Board, passed under Section 4 of the Tea Act, 1953, was constituted on April 1, 1954.

But recently we are witnessing, Sir, that the employees are being harassed; they are being shifted to other offices in batches, they are being made to wait compulsorily. There is an alleged move, because a new political party has come to power in Assam, to shift the Tea Board headquarters from Kolkata to Guwahati.

Sir, I have full sympathies with Guwahati, our heart goes out to Guwahati, but this should not be done at the cost of Kolkata; we should not be made to suffer. Tea, with respect to Bengal, is as good as our hand is to our body. So, if you are taking the Tea Board headquarters away from Kolkata, it means you are chopping away our hands.

Sir, another point is, whether this is a part of a bigger design? It can be seen from the fact that the Chairman of Kolkata Port Trust and that of Damodar Valley Corporation are people who are not from Bengal. All such big decisions, whether it is appointing of chairmen or shifting of the Tea Board, are done without consulting the State Government, without taking into account the immense hardship the State Government and other employees will face.

Sir, I would also like to say that Bengal is not only the headquarters of the Tea Board, the Kolkata Port is there, auction houses have been there for centuries, warehouses are there; in fact, a lot of infrastructure is there, hence, a lot of jobs are there. Sir, the shifting of the Tea Board headquarters might be a symbolic shift but the problems as a consequence of it would be tremendous on industries and on everybody else.  

Thank you, Sir.