Rawalpindi seeks civil defence’s help in dengue fight

CDD teams to inspect govt offices in the district

RAWALPINDI: With the dengue season about to begin, the Rawalpindi district administration has sought help from its Civil Defence Department (CDD), directing it to inspect all government offices in the district for dengue larvae.

CDD District Officer Talib Hussain told The Express Tribune that following directions from Rawalpindi Deputy Commissioner Ali Randhawa, the CDD had formed teams for this purpose.

He added that a strict action would be taken against the head of the particular government office if dengue larvae were found during the inspection. Moreover, the related authority will be reported for initiating a departmental inquiry against the official.

Building code violation

The CDD has announced the launch of a district-wide grand operation for implementation of building codes. In this regard, a 1,000 such buildings have already been issued red notices by the department.

“There are 400 multi-storey buildings in Murree that have no fire safety system, emergency exit, alarm and failed to meet earthquake-safety code,” CDD district officer Talib Hussain told The Express Tribune.

Thousands of tourists come and stay in these hotels, Hussain said, adding an accident could cause a major tragedy at the holiday spot. Therefore, the owners of these buildings have been asked to improve their safety standards.

Hussain said that as part of fire safety measures, all housing societies have been directed to construct water filling points for water hydrants at their entry points. All housing societies must also have ambulances, he said.

Currently the fire brigades have to travel to the city to refill their tanks while the absence of quick ambulance services was also costly to a number of lives.

He added that heavy fines will be imposed on violators and cases would be registered against them as well.

Handling wildfire

The CDD provided training to forest department staff for putting out wildfires and taught them techniques to rescue fire victims.

The senior instructor Sajid Minhas, was leading the training. The entire staff and officials of Kahuta Forest Department were present. 

Published in The Express Tribune, June 14^th, 2019.