FAISALABAD, Dec 13: Traders staged a protest rally against the Faisalabad Electricity Supply Company (Fesco) on Saturday alleging that company employees did not respond to an emergency quickly when a cloth market had caught a fire in Bhawana Bazaar on Wednesday night.
Participants staged the rally from Anarkali Bazaar and Bhawana Bazaar and marched on different roads to reach Kutchary Bazaar Chowk. Carrying banners and placards, the protesters chanted slogans against Fesco and demanded action against the delinquents.
The demonstrators said the locals had contacted Fesco officials soon after the fire erupted, but they took 45 minutes to reach the spot. They said Fesco employees did not use any vehicle to reach the scene swiftly and also they did not bring any equipment or gadget to cope with the situation.
Nearly one dozen shops in Bhawana Bazaar caught fire on Dec 10, reducing fabrics worth millions of rupees to ashes. The fire erupted apparently owing to short-circuit.
The protesters said Rescue-1122 teams rushed to the scene within minutes, however, it was inaction of Fesco employees that aggravated the situation and the fire engulfed the nearby shops too.
Traders dispersed after DDO(R) Mohsin Rasheed informed them that the district coordination officer had ordered a probe into the matter.
Fesco: The Faisalabad Electricity Supply Company (Fesco) will show video footages to its workers to carry out an exercise to prevent accidents during maintenance and repairs in future.
Effective guidelines will be given to the workers on how to avoid accidents while working, Fesco Chief Executive Officer Ahmad Saeed Akhtar told a meeting of Joint Works Council held at the company’s head office on Saturday.
The company, he said, had been striving to make sure its employees used proper equipment and followed safeguards. It would record the incidents the linemen faced while on duty to show these to employees at all sub-divisional offices and the company’s training centers. This practice would help control accidents and improve the performance of the employees, he said.
He directed the officials to hold meetings at their respective offices and inform their subordinates about the safety measures. He also asked the SDOs to check the status of safety equipment and get them repaired if required.
Responding to the queries of the officials, Mr Akhtar said repair work of employees’ colonies had been started and funds had been allocated for the purpose. Besides, he said, the issue of regularisation of work-charged employees was being considered.