Trees perish in fire along canal

Tribune News Service

Faridkot, May 23

Many trees were perished after they caught fire on the dividing portion of Sirhind and Rajasthan Feeder canal in Faidkot on Wednesday evening.

Trees caught fire when some daily wagers, given the duty to clean and remove the overgrown shrubs on the canals bank, allegedly prefer to set these on fire. The fire from the shrubs and bushes spread over to the full grown trees, thus damaging many trees.

Surjit Singh, baildar of Indira Gandhi Canal, denied the allegations of daily wagers setting the bushes and shrubs on fire instead of cutting these. He blamed some smokers for causing the fire by throwing some burning butts of cigarettes. However, the members of SEER (Society for Ecological and Environmental Resources) alleged that burning of the trees on the canals side area was a common occurrence as instead of manually removing the shrubs and bushes on the banks of the canal, the canal department relies on easy formula of making disposal by burning the bushes and the rising flames engulfing many full-grown trees also.

Another incident of fire was reported from the premises of old jail in Faridkot on Wednesday. This old jail building is the property of Baba Farid University of Health Sciences and is used for the dumping of medical waste of Guru Gobind Singh Medical College and Hospital Faridkot.

Making unscientific disposal of this medical waste, some mischievous persons set it afire.

To control the rising flames and smoke billowing from the mounds of this medical waste, three fire tenders of the area rushed to the spot and tried to douse the fire.