LUDHIANA: Lack of fire safety measures at city railway station has been putting the lives of thousands of passengers at risk as the waiting as well parcel booking rooms so not have the required fire extinguishers to douse flames in case fire breaks out.One of the major concerns in this direction is the parcel store room where goods worth lakhs of rupees have been stored without considering the basic fire safety standard which is posing great threat to the lives of workers of the storeroom along with stored material.TOI team visited the parcel store room of the city railway station. It was found that the city railway station had not adopt any moderate safety techniques such as water hydrants to douse flames along with fire alarms in case any untoward incident was to take place.Sources in the railway station revealed that two years ago a minor fire broke out in the parcel office but due to alertness of the staff the fire could be douse within time averting major loss of life and property at the railway station.According to railway officials more than 100 long route trains carrying about 60,000 to 70,000 passengers arrive in or depart from the city railway station on a regular basis. In the summer vacation season when Northern Railway authorities run special trains for passengers then footfall reaches 70,000 The local authorities seem to be oblivious to the fact that with such high footfall, they are putting the lives of many at risk without installing adequate fire safety arrangements.Director of Ludhiana railway station, Abhinav Singla, said, “Railway authorities are concerned about the safety of the thousands of passengers. We will soon take some appropriate measures and adopt latest technology available in the market to overcome the issue related to fire safety. We are going to organise a lecture on fire safety measures for the staff members so that everyone in the railway office could be aware about the importance of fire safety standards.”One of the city-based industrialists, Sanjay Garg, said as Ludhiana railway station is considered as one of biggest railway stations in Northern Railway zone , it should contain all essential and moderate fire safety equipment to counter any unwanted incident. Railway authorities should pay attention towards this major issue as numerous fire incidents have been reported in the city in the recent years claiming lives as well leading to financial losses.”cw 1 30m;hr 0;fr 0;fc 0;lc 0;

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