NEW DELHI: Delhi saw a record-breaking rise in the fire-incident related calls that were received by the Delhi Fire Service (DFS) on the Diwali festival night this year.
As per a senior DFS officer, the fire department control rooms received 318 emergency calls, including 280 related to fire incidents, between 5 pm on Thursday and 5 am on Friday.
DFS chief Atul Garg, while speaking to The New Indian Express, said that this year witnessed a rise in the total number of calls during the peak hours of the festival. The maximum number of calls were received between 10 pm to 12 am on October 31.
According to the data shared by the DFS for October 31, the department received 280 fire calls, eight for animal rescue, six each for bird rescue, one for a road accident, eight for special jobs and two as standby calls.
It is a well-known fact that whenever firecrackers are used, there is always a risk of burn injury or could result in an untoward incident. However, this time, fortunately no loss of life was reported.
Pertinently, the firecrackers do not only lead to fire incidents but have also an impact over the soaring levels of air pollution during the winter season -- a serious problem with which India's capital city -- Delhi -- grapples every year.
Air pollution is hard to be mitigated since it is a multi-dimensional problem -- industry, vehicular, biomass/waste burning, dust all contribute significantly, and each has its own political, regulatory, and technical challenges.
It is not only for fire incidents, but the DFS is a first responder in almost every type of emergency and in addition to this, the services of this department are also utilised to curb the air pollution.
Notably, the Delhi government had banned the production, sale, and use of firecrackers in the national capital to control air pollution in the coming winter season. The ban will remain in force till January 1, 2025.
However, despite the prohibition, people burst crackers. Fortunately, due to high air velocity the air quality remained stagnant.