JHELUM: The business community and residents of Sohawa tehsil have expressed concern over the non-availability of fire tenders at the Rescue 1122 station at the tehsilheadquarters.
They said in case of any fire emergency, fire tenders from Jhelum district headquarters take 40 minutes to an hour to reach Sohawa town, while reaching emergencies in remote areas on the Sohawa-Chakwal and Kot Dhamiak sides takes even longer.
Ahsan Waheed, a local reporter, pointed out that a motorcycle showroom was gutted on Wednesday morning and all the bikes had burnt before the arrival of fire tenders dispatched from Jhelum.
When contacted for his comments, Engineer Saeed Ahmed, the DistrictEmergency Officer (DEO) of Rescue 1122, said that upon receiving an emergency call from Sohawa, ambulances stationed there instantly reached the spot in four minutes to shift any injured people to hospital.
However, according to the DEO, fire tenders moved from Jhelum could reach the spot in 39 minutes. He said it takes at least 40 to 55 minutes to reach Sohawa from Jhelum as the hilly terrain requires cautious driving.
When the district emergency officer was asked about the non-availability of fire tenders at the Sohawa tehsil station, he said, ‘There is no fire vehicle in Tehsil Sohawa and as per the vision of CM Punjab, the initiative for the purchase of 37 fire vehicles for different tehsils of Punjab is under process. After the new vehicles are delivered, Sohawa would also get fire tenders for the area.