BHEL Tiruchy employee feted for bravery

According to an official statement issued by BHEL, M Padmanaban, working as a grade II artisan in the high-pressure boiler plant, received the award for his act of bravery and presence of mind in extinguishing a fire which broke out due to the leak of highly inflammable acetylene gas from a cylinder used for welding. He quickly identified and deployed the correct fire extinguisher to put out the fire, thereby averting a major disaster as the incident happened close to a Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) line and was in proximity to the coal yard and other inflammable goods.

Padmanaban received the award from Dr AR Sihag, Secretary, Department of Heavy Industry, Government of India, in the presence of Atul Sobti, Chairman and Managing Director, BHEL and D Bandyopadhyay, Director, Human Resources, BHEL in a function organised in New Delhi on April 26.

The Jeewan Raksha Padak is instituted by the Government of India to reward civilians who save persons from drowning, fire or mine accidents. It is awarded for courage and presence of mind displayed under circumstances of a grave personal risk posed to the rescuer. The award consists of a medal, a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh and a citation.