Vayu threat passed, AFES team still in Porbandar

Ahmedabad: Teams of the Ahmedabad Fire and Emergency Services are the last to leave Porbandar, despite the threat from Cyclone Vayu having passed.

AFES personnel, who had left for Porbandar on June 12, were instrumental in rescue operations and clearing roads. An AFES staff member said that the after the government announced that the Vayu was not going to hit the Gujarat coast, the AFES team should have been sent back along with other teams.

The officer said that the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams had left the next day and teams from Vadodara and Rajkot were also told to leave the area. However, AFES teams were made to stay back in the town till Tuesday evening.

Another officer said that the nodal officers, on being asked about the delay, said that the district authorities had failed to give a satisfactory reply. Officials said one officer from the district administration threatened to book them if they pressed officials to be allowed to leave.

A senior AMC officer said the entire delay was totally unwarranted and the corporation may refuse to depute its staff in such emergencies in the future. The AFES is short of staff and unnecessarily forcing teams to stay back was totally unwarranted.

Chief fire officer M F Dastoor said, “The Vayu threat was over last week, but the AFES team is still in Porbandar for reasons best known to the administration. We have been contacting our men only to be told that their orders to leave Porbandar are yet to be issued.”