On Diwali, Delhi fire dept gets over 200 calls

Officials said last night though the final figures were yet to come in, they felt there was a decline in the number of calls this year due to a temporary ban on sale of firecrackers by the Supreme Cou

New Delhi, October 20: On Diwali day, the Delhi Fire Services received over 200 calls related to fire incidents from across the national capital.

Officials said last night though the final figures were yet to come in, they felt there was a decline in the number of calls this year due to a temporary ban on sale of firecrackers by the Supreme Court.

"We received 139 calls between 12 am (last night) to 9 pm. Between 9 pm to 11 pm, which happen to be the peak hours, we received 62 calls," said a senior Delhi Fire Services officer.

A fire broke out in a garment godown in Gandhi Nagar in east Delhi at around 10 pm. Twenty-two fire tenders were rushed to the spot and the firefighting operations were underway, he added.

Besides the 59 permanent fire stations in the national capital, the fire services department had also set up temporary stations at 28 locations across the city, from where the maximum number of calls were received on last Diwali.

The department had also increased the number of phone lines to the control room in view of the high number of calls on Diwali.

In 2016, over 300 calls related to fire incidents were received by the control room from across the national capital during Diwali festival.

PTI