LAHORE:
The city’s Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) is desperately short of equipment and manpower, The Express Tribune has learnt.
Lahore’s BDS unit consists of a commander and nine technicians, none of whom have permanent jobs. The commander and one technician serve on contract while the rest are working on a daily wage basis.
Another technician, Muhammad Ayub, was appointed on contract in February 2011 but was transferred to the Special Branch in July, said Civil Defence Department officials. Four of the technicians are over the age of 60. The posts of regular commander and four regular technicians have been vacant for more than one and a half decades, the officials said.
One of the difficulties in hiring new staff is the lack of incentives for the job, said BDS Commander Riaz Ahmed Shah.
“Police and other law enforcement personnel, and even ministerial staff, get a special risk allowance. The BDS staffers are constantly at risk, facing the threat of explosions, but they do not have bulletproof jackets let alone the special risk allowance.
They should get life insurance and permanent jobs,” he said.
The BDS unit has two vehicles, but these are available only when a blast occurs or a bomb threat is reported. Otherwise, the vehicles and their drivers are in the use of officials in the Civil Defence headquarters, said the officials.
“We need a lot of new equipment and also need to repair some of our old equipment,” said BDS Commander Shah.
The unit has a water cannon but no cartridges as it doesn’t have the funds to buy any (they cost Rs1,500 each).
It has two electronic stethoscopes but one is out of order, and an x-ray machine but no film.
It needs various detectors to look for metal, explosives and electronics, communication devices including walkie-talkies and wireless sets, as well as safety equipment like shell-proof and bullet-proof jackets for staffers.
A BDS official said that the main reason the squad was being neglected was that it was under the administrative control of non technical officers of the Civil Defence Department rather than the police or Counter-Terrorism Department.
Deputy District Officer (Civil Defence) Alam Sher said that the chief minister had approved the filling of the vacant posts in the BDS and they would be advertised within the next couple of weeks.
He conceded that the squad needed new vehicles, communication and detection equipment, safety jackets and a lab upgrade, but there was a lack of money.
According to official data obtained by The Express Tribune, the Lahore BDS received 91 bomb threat calls in 2011. They defused 10 shells in 2011 and conducted 565 sweep and search operations for the security of VIPs and VVIPs. They also investigated four explosions: a suicide bombing at Karbala Gamay Shah in January, a gas blast in Akbari Mandi in June, a gas blast in Anarkali in September and a chemical blast in Sanda in December.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 8th, 2012.
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How can you possibly lack equipment???? US has over decade given billions of dollars worth of military Aid and Equipment ! So what happened to it??? Perhaps its all sent to the eastern front for the defence of the Nation, while the Nation burns from within and has serious challenges of guarding its borders on northern front ! This is how the smart people in the country operate !