LAHORE: The Housing, Urban Development & Public Health Engineering Department (HUD & PHED) has approved mandatory fire safety training for staff deployed at all disposal stations managed by Water and Sanitation Agencies (Wasas) across Punjab.

According to directives issued by the Punjab Wasa, all managing directors have been instructed to immediately coordinate with the respective district offices of Rescue 1122 to arrange structured, hands-on fire safety training sessions for the staff working at every disposal station under their jurisdiction.

The initiative aims to standardise operational safety, particularly fire safety, at Wasa disposal stations and to strengthen the capacity of field staff to respond effectively to fire emergencies.

The training will cover basic fire safety, identification of potential hazards and emergency response procedures, with practical sessions to be conducted in coordination with Rescue 1122. The Wasas have also been directed to maintain high-resolution video coverage and photographic documentation of all training sessions conducted at each disposal station.

Punjab Wasa has further directed that complete compliance reports, along with video recordings of the training sessions, be submitted to the agency and the HUD & PHED secretary, for centralised monitoring and record-keeping. The directive has been issued with the approval of the Punjab HUD & PHED secretary.

Published in Dawn, September 4th, 2026