LCCI, Rescue-1122 To Pursue Fire Safety Cause Together

All commercial markets and plazas should have fire hydrants installed as part of public-private cooperation and for the sake of public safety and business security

LAHORE, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 15th Nov, 2022 ) :All commercial markets and plazas should have fire hydrants installed as part of public-private cooperation and for the sake of public safety and business security.

The demand was brought up at a meeting between District Emergency Head Rescue-1122 Shahid Waheed and Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) President Kashif Anwar, here on Tuesday.

Shahid Waheed informed the LCCI president that Rescue-1122 had a total capacity of 75,000 litres of water for rescue missions, and there were two 19,000-litre vehicles. He mentioned that managing the situation during the fire occurrences at the Hafeez Centre, Pace, Shahalam market, and Children's Hospital was quite challenging.

He said that all 30 vehicles ran out of water as the Rescue-1122 crew arrived at Children's Hospital to put out the fire. The lack of nearby hydrants caused a significant loss of time, which caused the damage to multiply by four.

He said that the operational time of the vehicle with 19,000-litre capacity is 10 minutes and it has to be refilled.

Shahid Waheed said that the LCCI should play its role for installation of fire hydrants in commercial plazas and commercial markets.

He said that a single outlet water hydrant can be installed on the four-inch line of WASA which will cost Rs 25,000. He said that the ownership will belong to the plaza owner. He said that the problem is that there is no WASA line in Shahalam Market. The hydrant can be installed with a line from the nearest tube-well or turbine. If the water hydrants are found up to 200 metres, the loss of lives and property could be mitigated.

He said that WASA should cooperate in this regard by providing free-of-cost water lines for installation of fire hydrants. He said that Rescue-1122 has issued building safety certificates for the buildings that are 50 feet or more in height.

LCCI President Kashif Anwar said that the representatives of market associations and commercial plazas should ensure installation of water hydrant. He said that the LCCI, in collaboration with Rescue-1122, would take measures for awareness amongst the masses. He said that WASA should allow free-of-cost hydrant services for the security of people and businesses.

The management of Pace Centre visited the LCCI and urged the chamber president to help them get compensation announced by the government.