NEW DELHI: This Diwali, Delhi Fire Services (DFS) saw the least number of distress calls during the festival in the last 15 years. DFS got 152 distress calls on Thursday, 25% less than 2020, said senior officials. Fire-related calls usually go up on Diwali.
DFS data shows that 117 calls out of the 152 reported fire incidents, including four related to crackers, while others reported fire due to short-circuit and fire in the garbage.
Officials said that there were at least 10 calls for animal rescue, 12 for bird rescue, one related to house collapse, seven other rescue-related operations and two others reporting road accidents requiring assistance.
Atul Garg, DFS director, said that the new low in the number of distress calls is a positive sign. "I believe that the low number of calls this year is because we have managed to raise awareness among the people. There were fewer calls reporting incidents related to fire-crackers bursting, which is indicative that people behaved responsibly and followed all the safety precautions as suggested," Garg said.
The director said no major fire incident was reported on Diwali, and no casualty was reported due to fire.
DFS had made elaborate arrangements ahead of Diwali to ensure a quick response to any untoward incident. While fire tenders were deployed at 22 locations across the national capital, for narrow lanes and congested areas like Chandni Chowk, Sabji Mandi, Ghanta Ghar and Paharganj, motorcycles fitted with fire-fighting equipment were deployed.
