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Time of India
26-06-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Tech Meets Tradition: 148th Rath Yatra to roll out today
Ahmedabad: The Lord Jagannath's 148th Rath Yatra will roll out on the streets of Ahmedabad on Friday morning, with elaborate security arrangements and new-age technology in place to ensure a smooth and safe procession. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The chariots of Lord Jagannath, Balbhadra, and Subhadra will begin their 18-km journey from the Jagannath Temple in Jamalpur at 7 am. With rain forecast by the weather department, temple trust authorities have installed a large protective dome over the chariots to shield them until the yatra begins. City police, in coordination with paramilitary forces, have deployed around 24,000 personnel along the procession route. In a first, the police will use an AI-based crowd monitoring tool developed by a local startup. The software will analyse live CCTV footage to detect crowd density and alert authorities if limits are exceeded. Over 300 CCTV cameras and nearly 60 drones will monitor the event, while many police officers will wear body cameras. The live surveillance feed will be tracked from a central control room at the city police commissioner's office. Additionally, GPS devices fitted on the three chariots will help officials track their real-time location. "A mobile monitoring van will also be used to process live footage. Rath yatra has long served as a platform to pilot cutting-edge policing technologies. This year, trainee officers will observe the deployment as part of their field training," said a senior police official. Around 1,000 traffic police personnel will be deployed, supported by 23 cranes, 240 terrace points, and 25 watch towers. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Authorities have installed 44 public address systems and set up 17 public health booths along the route. Of 484 identified dangerous buildings, residents will be urged not to climb them. AFES and EMRI 108 vehicles will be strategically positioned to handle any emergencies. As tradition has it, the deities returned from their maternal uncle's home on Thursday and had their eyes covered before the main procession on Friday. Gujarat chief minister Bhupendra Patel, accompanied by senior city and state officials, performed the evening aarti at the temple. On Friday, the CM will perform the symbolic 'Pahind Vidhi', the ritual of sweeping the road to mark the beginning of the yatra. Preparations by truck associations and participating groups have also concluded. This year, several tableaux are expected to feature themes related to 'Operation Sindoor' and the recent AI 171 plane crash. Pankaj Purani, an akhada member, said that this year, about five girls will participate in the procession and will show their prowess in martial arts. "For the past couple of years, girls have started participating even as it becomes physically demanding to be on the road for the entire day. We have also seen enthusiastic participation from akhada members," he said. Box: 213 rath yatras across Gujarat According to the Director General of Police (DGP) office in Gandhinagar, a total of 213 rath yatra processions will take place across Gujarat on Friday. The DGP's office will coordinate with district police units to ensure smooth and secure conduct of these processions. In Ahmedabad alone, 10 separate processions have been scheduled in various parts of the city, including western areas, by organisations such as ISKCON, Swaminarayan Gurukul, and Tripada School. Other major cities, including Bhavnagar, will also host multiple rath yatras, drawing large crowds. Box: Saraspur's mega kitchens to feed 2L devotees Saraspur, revered as the 'maternal home' of the three deities, is ready to welcome lakhs of devotees. The neighbourhood will feed nearly 2 lakh people as part of the annual tradition. Over the years, several new Pols and societies have joined the initiative, making it a collective celebration of devotion.
New Straits Times
24-06-2025
- Business
- New Straits Times
Malakoff signs Sungai Udang WTE concession in Melaka
KUALA LUMPUR: Malakoff Corp Bhd, via its subsidiary Sungai Udang WTE Sdn Bhd, has signed a concession agreement under a public-private partnership framework with the government. The deal involves the design, construction, financing, operation, maintenance, and eventual closure of a waste-to-energy (WTE) facility located in Sungai Udang, Melaka. Sungai Udang WTE is a special-purpose joint venture for the project, with Malakoff holding a 60 per cent stake, while the remaining 40 per cent is owned by Alam Flora Environmental Solutions Sdn Bhd (AFES). AFES is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Alam Flora Sdn Bhd, which is 97.37 per cent owned by Malakoff. In a statement, Malakoff said the WTE facility is designed to process up to 1,056 tonnes of municipal solid waste daily and will produce around 22 megawatts of gross renewable energy. This will be done under a power purchase agreement to be signed between Tenaga Nasional Bhd and the concession company. Managing director and group chief executive officer Anwar Syahrin Abdul Ajib said the facility plays a crucial role in tackling Melaka's pressing waste management challenges, especially as the state's sole sanitary landfill approaches full capacity. "By diverting over 300,000 tonnes of waste from landfills annually, the plant is expected to eliminate 75,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions, which is equivalent to preserving more than 3.4 million trees and preventing 23,000 cubic metres of leachate from polluting local waterways. "Malakoff currently manages 3,649 tonnes of waste per day. With this project expected to add another 1,056 tonnes daily, we will have the capacity to manage up to 6,206 tonnes per day based on our existing contracts, concession agreements and available assets," he said.
Indian Express
20-06-2025
- General
- Indian Express
‘There was a wall of fire… seen nothing like this before': How Ahmedabad's firefighters dealt with plane crash aftermath
On the afternoon of June 12, an officer working with the Ahmedabad Fire and Emergency Services (AFES) received an emergency call. With the number of fire cases rising in the scorching summer, responding to such emergencies is par for the course for the city's fire officers. But what this officer heard next was something nothing could have prepared any of them for: A plane crash. 'All odds were against us: From the traffic to the public, to the wind direction and the intensity of the fire. Nothing had prepared us for this. But there was a job to be done, so we got down to it,' said another AFES officer, one of the several team leaders who answered the call in response to the crash of Air India flight AI 171 that resulted in the deaths of 241 out of 242 passengers and at least 19 ground casualties. The first call 'At 1.43 pm, the fire control room received a call from the airport hotline about a plane crash. We dispatched first responder teams from Shahpur, Nikol and Naroda fire stations and then informed the entire force through wireless, asking them to send everyone possible to the crash site,' said a fireman close to the nerve centre of the operations. But the very first job, however, was to actually locate the plane. Sources told The Indian Express, 'We received hundreds of phone calls from the public that day. The people, calling in panic, gave disparate information. While some said the fire was at the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital, others said it was in Meghaninagar. There was a lot of confusion but our teams found its way using the smoke, which followed the crash, as a beacon.' The first responders then called the control room and relayed the scale of the accident after which a full-scale deployment was ordered. The fog of disaster Around this time, some of the officers were at the Riverfront House, working on the recruitment process of firefighters, when a driver saw a large plume of smoke over the horizon. He ran inside the building and informed the officers. A mid-level officer, who was almost 8.5 km away from the crash site when the emergency call came, said, 'In the initial call, we were told that there had been a crash-landing of an aircraft and so, we coordinated to reach the airport circle. However, we saw that the smoke was not coming from the airport. We checked with the control room again and were told to head to Meghaninagar. We reached in 22 minutes despite dealing with severe traffic jams.' Apart from the traffic congestion, what made the task difficult for the firefighters was the crowd of curious onlookers, swelling by the minute. 'It was not just vehicles that were parked on both sides of this road… hundreds of people, too, had gathered to witness the tragedy. We had to disembark from the firefighting vehicles and while some of us rushed towards the site on foot, others had to move people out of the way so that the firefighting vehicles and water bowsers could enter the area,' said another officer. All the officers that The Indian Express spoke to requested anonymity. Wall of fire and smoke 'When we finally reached the crash site, there was nothing but a wall of fire and smoke, and an intense radiating heat … Even the wind was blowing against us and with it, the heat and the smoke,' said an officer. Another officer, among the first to reach the site, said, 'When we reached there, we couldn't see anything… there were just flames. We couldn't even make out the hostel buildings from the fire. We didn't immediately understand the situation but wore our overalls and rushed to the site.' Said an officer, 'On approaching the site, we saw the debris of the aircraft… My first thought was to rescue people who may still be alive inside the building. So, our team rushed in there. Just at the entrance, a piece of debris was on fire with a couple of LPG cylinders lying close to it. We first removed them to a safe place.' Describing the scene inside one of the buildings, the officer said, 'We saw personnel from the Army's Medical Corp also trying to look for survivors. The army men had reached before the firefighters as the military hospital is right behind the hostel. The aircraft's tail had actually collided with a chimney on its premises before hitting the mess building.' By the time the AFES reached the hostel campus, the Airport Firefighting Unit was already at work. The city's firefighters promptly took over. Said another officer, 'We first evacuated around 30 people from the first two hostel buildings next to which the majority of the aircraft had crashed. Initially, we didn't even notice the mess building… We were concerned with the four burning hostel buildings since the mess was not on fire. We began firefighting in the hostel residences.' Notably, the mess building is located at a short distance from the cluster of four residential hostel buildings – Atulyam. On the top floor of a hostel building, a team saw two bodies lying next to each other in the passageway. It looked like the two individuals had tripped while attempting to escape the building. 'The bodies were completely charred,' said a member of this team, adding, 'We sought help from the military personnel to bring the bodies down but, at that point, the building was still on fire and they were not dressed for the situation like we were. Meanwhile, a few firefighters arrived with bedsheets in which they wrapped the two bodies along with another one we found inside the building, and brought them down.' Describing the devastation wrought on the building, an officer said the right side of the aircraft had sheared through the corner pillars and beams 'like a knife' and aviation fuel had led to the entire premises 'burning furiously'. The next task was to deal with the mess building, where the tail of the aircraft was lodged. An officer said, 'It was only when we reached the roof of one of the hostel buildings that we noticed something on the top of the mess. We immediately dispatched a team there.' Finding the fuselage After clearing the first two buildings, a team approached the debris of the aircraft lying between them and spotted the left engine of the Dreamliner. The fuselage, said the officer, was unrecognisable. 'There, we found the bodies of three children huddled together.' Firefighting at the site continued for another 2-3 hours. So, when personnel began pulling the bodies out of the seats, most of the AFES officers were still involved in dousing the massive blaze and multiple blasts caused by the crash. 'We saw charred bodies, hands, legs, intestines everywhere. Some bodies were heaped on each other. Others were fused into each other to the extent we couldn't tell if it was one body or two… many bodies had missing parts lying far away,' said an officer. Another officer said, 'Most of the metal was so hot that we could hardly touch anything even after two hours… By 8.15 pm, the firefighters were drained, both emotionally and physically, to the extent that we could hardly bear to even speak to each other.' The Indian Express attempted to reach out to Chief Fire Officer Amit Dongre regarding the work done by the AFES but he remained unavailable for comment. In a government statement on June 16, Dongre was quoted as saying, 'The fire station teams of Naroda and Shahpur, which reached the scene first, gave a picture of the severity of the situation. In addition to Ahmedabad city, help was also sought from firefighters from Gandhinagar, Kheda, Anand, Vadodara, Gift City and the Army to control the emergency situation. More than 100 firefighting vehicles were deployed at the scene within a short period of time, due to which the rescue operation could be completed in just four hours.' The statement said that 7.50 lakh litres of water had been used to control and cool the fire. Modern resources like Gajraj (a kind of bowser) made the fire-fighting work easier, it added. One of the officers quoted above said around 650 trained personnel were involved in the firefighting operation. No firefighter suffered any injury or damage, he added. Story of two crashes Rajesh Bhatt, retired interim CFO of the AFES, who was a Station Officer at the time of the 1988 crash, told The Indian Express, 'At that time, the aircraft had crashed just short of the runway into the Kotarpur water works located to its north-east … There was nobody on the ground … At that time also, we initially did not realise where the plane had crashed.' He further said, 'In 1988, there was less fuel in the aircraft because it was landing, and not taking off like AI 171. So, the fire was also not as major as this one. Despite that, in my 40-year-long career, I have never been as scared as I was on that day. The scale of the disaster, the condition of the bodies, to pick them up and transport them, was the hardest thing we ever had to do in the line of duty. What our firefighters have done today is extremely commendable.'
Time of India
14-06-2025
- Time of India
AI 171 Crash: Burnt Body In Tail, Second Found In Debris In Ahmedabad
Ahmedabad: Two more bodies were recovered from the ill-fated AI 171 flight that crashed onto the residential quarters and hostel mess buildings of the BJ Medical College here on Saturday, police authorities said. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now One body, believed to be of an air hostess, was recovered from the tail of the plane as authorities undertook operations to remove the flight debris precariously embedded in the building. Later, another body was found from the debris of the mess building. Officials of the Ahmedabad Fire and Emergency Services (AFES) said that a major operation was undertaken on Saturday to extricate the crashed plane's tail from the mess building. As the tail was cut using a gas cutter, rescuers stumbled upon a burnt and highly decomposed body. Due to copious amounts of water used to douse the fire on the crashed flight, the burnt body had bloated beyond recognition. "Considering the fragments of clothing found on the body, it is believed to be that of an air hostess," an AFES official said. The body was recovered around 9am and was sent for postmortem and identification. Later, as the AFES personnel carried on with the search and rescue operations, another body was found from the debris of the hostel mess building that suffered massive damage and destruction after the rear end of the AI 171 crashed into the building. The body was also found in a highly decomposed state and sent for postmortem and identification, sources said. It is believed that the body could be of a medico or a local in the mess. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now AFES authorities said that the mega-operation to remove the plane debris is ongoing and will continue for some more time. Officials said that once the plane debris is removed, exhaustive search will be carried in the mess building debris too to ensure that there is no missing body or body part of any victim — passengers or citizens on the ground. With help from the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), the AMC team removed the AI 171's tail and landing gear from the BJMC mess building using 50- and 60-tonne heavy-duty cranes. The authorities deployed 35 ambulances to send bodies of crash victims to their families. The birth and death department completed all necessary procedures to issue death certificates to the families of the deceased based on DNA reports and required evidence. Adequate arrangements were made in all crematoriums for the last rites.
Time of India
03-06-2025
- General
- Time of India
Gas cylinder catches fire near Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi Stadium hours before IPL final
AHMEDABAD: A fire broke out in a gas cylinder outside a shop near Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad around 10:35 AM on Tuesday, hours before the IPL 2025 final match. The incident occurred in the Motera area, where the cylinder was placed on the footpath outside the shop. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Local residents quickly attempted to extinguish the flames, but the fire grew uncontrollable. The fire brigade and police were immediately alerted. A firefighting team reached the spot promptly and doused the fire using water jets, bringing the situation under control. Ahmedabad Fire and Emergency Services (AFES) authorities informed that no injuries were reported, and the cause of the fire is being investigated. The incident raised safety concerns as a large crowd is expected at the stadium for the final match this evening.
