Bipin Ganatra
Bipin Ganatra (born c. 1957)[1] is an electrician in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. He is also an unofficial volunteer firefighter and was awarded the Padma Shri in 2017 for helping fight fires in the city.
Inspiration
As a child Ganatra would rush after fire engines when he heard them and would start helping the firemen when he reached the scene of the fire. In 1982, Bipin, then only 12 years old, lost his elder brother Narendra to a freak fire accident which occurred when a spark fell on fuel that his brother was handling while working on a motorcycle. His brother was admitted to hospital and succumbed to his injuries a little over a month later.[2]
Life
Bipin, originally from Gujarat, has been offering his services as a fireman in the city of Kolkata, whose firefighting force of 1,258 firemen battled some 2,000 fires in 2014 and 1,600 fires in 2015.[3] He is an electrician by trade and earns a meager salary, borrowing from his friends to make ends meet. He also helps the police manage traffic.[4]
Bipin does not have any formal training with regards to firefighting. He started out by helping firefighters do odd jobs but now has risen to the level of a professional firefighter.[1] Over 40 years, Bipin has assisted in more than 100 fires, working to put out the flames, rescue victims, and clear away debris.[3] One of his most dramatic rescues was of a pregnant woman trapped on the fifth floor of a burning building. The woman was too scared to move, so Bipin scaled the building to reach her and convince her to come down.[2] Bipin has suffered injuries several times while helping put out flames, and also risked his life to extract two unexploded cylinders from a burning warehouse on Strand Road.[2]
Bipin monitors the television news constantly and informs the fire department if a fire breaks out. Despite his contributions to the force he travels to the site by himself using public transport. In recognition of his efforts, the fire department has given him a rare steel volunteer card and a khaki uniform.[2]
References
- ^ a b "Padma Shri winner: After losing his brother to fire aged 12, this man has spent his life as voluntary fire fighter". Daily News & Analysis. 25 January 2017. Archived from the original on 2 August 2017. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
- ^ a b c d "West Bengal: Unofficial firefighter Bipin Ganatra to get Padma Shri". The Indian Express. 28 January 2017. Archived from the original on 30 July 2017. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
- ^ a b Biswas, Soutik (6 March 2016). "The Indian man who chases fires". BBC News. Archived from the original on 31 July 2017. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
- ^ ANI (26 January 2017). "Meet Padma awardee Bipin Ganatra who chases fire to protect people". India.com. Archived from the original on 2 August 2017. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
- v
- t
- e
- Mary Clubwala Jadhav (1955)
- R. S. Subbalakshmi (1958)
- Sailabala Das (1959)
- Lakshman Singh Jangpangi (1959)
- Nanabhai Bhatt (1960)
- Bina Das (1960)
- Sophia Wadia (1960)
- Kamalabai Hospet (1961)
- Mithuben Petit (1961)
- N. Ramaswami Ayyar (1962)
- Mother Teresa (1962)
- Brij Krishna Chandiwala (1963)
- Leela Sumant Moolgaokar (1963)
- Leela Sumant Moolgaokar (1963)
- Ambujammal (1964)
- Mona Chandravati Gupta (1965)
- Lakshmi Mazumdar (1965)
- Gordhandas Bhagwandas Narottamdas (1965)
- John Richardson (1965)
- Manibhai Desai (1968)
- Bhaurao Gaikwad (1968)
- Shalini Moghe (1968)
- Sis Ram Ola (1968)
- Kalyan Singh Gupta (1969)
- Mangru Ganu Uikey (1969)
- Indumati Chimanlal Sheth (1970)
- Maniben Kara (1970)
- Baba Amte (1971)
- Robin Banerjee (1971)
- Lila Ramkumar Bhargava (1971)
- Savita Behen (1971)
- Pandurang Dharmaji Jadhav (1971)
- Yudhvir Singh (1971)
- Avabai Bomanji Wadia (1971)
- Badri Prasad Bajoria (1972)
- Kanta Saroop Krishen (1972)
- Iyyanki Venkata Ramanayya (1972)
- Chandraprabha Saikiani (1972)
- Sarojini Varadappan (1973)
- Queenie H. C. Captain (1974)
- L. Kijungluba Ao (1976)
- Bishambhar Nath Pande (1976)
- Ismail Ahmed Cachalia (1977)
- Dhani Prem (1977)
- Kunwar Singh Negi (1981)
- Bhagat Puran Singh (1981)
- Claire Vellut (1981)
- Swami Kalyandev (1982)
- Shiv Dutt Upadhyaya (1982)
- M. P. Nachimuthu (1983)
- Omem Moyong Deori (1984)
- Zainulabedin Gulamhusain Rangoonwala (1984)
- Ela Bhatt (1985)
- Ratnappa Kumbhar (1985)
- Anutai Wagh (1985)
- Chandi Prasad Bhatt (1986)
- Mahasweta Devi (1986)
- Krishan Dev Dewan (1986)
- Tushar Kanjilal (1986)
- Avdhash Kaushal (1986)
- Narayan Singh Manaklao (1986)
- Bunker Roy (1986)
- Begum Zaffar Ali (1987)
- Jaya Arunachalam (1987)
- Darshan Singh Vohra (1988)
- Mithu Alur (1989)
- Vedaratnam Appakutti (1989)
- Rajmohini Devi (1989)
- Krishnammal Jagannathan (1989)
- Mag Raj Jain (1989)
- Edward Kutchat (1989)
- Anna Hazare (1990)
- Renana Jhabvala (1990)
- Silverine Swer (1990)
- Silverine Swer (1991)
- Vimla Dang (1991)
- T. G. K. Menon (1991)
- Jagdish Kashibhai Patel (1991)
- D. Y. Patil (1991)
- Sundaram Ramakrishnan (1991)
- Kantilal Hastimal Sancheti (1991)
- Shanthi Ranganathan (1992)
- Vidyaben Shah (1992)
- Leonarda Angela Casiraghi (1998)
- Antony Padiyara (1998)
- Shantha Sinha (1998)
- Kanta Tyagi (1998)
- Acharya Ramamurti (1999)
- T. Sailo (1999)
- Natwar Thakkar (1999)
- Neidonuo Angami (2000)
- Jagan Nath Kaul (2000)
- Patricia Mukhim (2000)
- Janaky Athi Nahappan (2000)
- Hanumappa Sudarshan (2000)
- Rabindra Nath Upadhyay (2000)
- Tulasi Munda (2001)
- Norma Alvares (2002)
- Prakash Amte (2002)
- Kiran Martin (2002)
- Prema Narendra Purao (2002)
- Sivananda Rajaram (2002)
- Verna Elizabeth Watre Ingty (2003)
- Queenie Rynjah (2004)
- Hema Bharali (2005)
- Nana Chudasama (2005)
- Lalsawma (2005)
- Theilin Phanbuh (2005)
- Gladys Staines (2005)
- Suwalal Bafna (2006)
- Anil Prakash Joshi (2006)
- Sudha Murty (2006)
- Sudha Varghese (2006)
- Melhupra Vero (2006)
- Runa Banerjee (2007)
- S. M. Cyril (2007)
- M. A. Yusuff Ali (2008)
- Sheela Borthakur (2008)
- Karuna Mary Braganza (2008)
- V. R. Gowrishankar (2008)
- Kshama Metre (2008)
- Kutikuppala Surya Rao (2008)
- Madan Mohan Sabharwal (2008)
- Vikramjit Singh Sahney (2008)
- Bilkees Latif (2009)
- Keepu Tsering Lepcha (2009)
- C. K. Menon (2009)
- Joseph H. Pereira (2009)
- Sunil Kanti Roy (2009)
- Mitraniketan Viswanathan (2009)
- Anu Aga (2010)
- J. R. Gangaramani (2010)
- Deep Joshi (2010)
- Sudha Kaul (2010)
- Ayekpam Tomba Meetei (2010)
- Kurian John Melamparambil (2010)
- Sudhir M. Parikh (2010)
- Kranti Shah (2010)
- Baba Sewa Singh (2010)
- Mamraj Agrawal (2011)
- Jockin Arputham (2011)
- Nomita Chandy (2011)
- Martha Chen (2011)
- Azad Moopen (2011)
- Sheela Patel (2011)
- Anita Reddy (2011)
- Kanubhai Hasmukhbhai Tailor (2011)
- Shamshad Begum (2012)
- Reeta Devi (2012)
- P. K. Gopal (2012)
- G. Muniratnam (2012)
- Niranjan Pranshankar Pandya (2012)
- Uma Tuli (2012)
- S. P. Varma (2012)
- Phoolbasan Bai Yadav (2012)
- Binny Yanga (2012)
- Jharna Dhara Chowdhury (2013)
- S. K. M. Maeilanandhan (2013)
- Nileema Mishra (2013)
- Reema Nanavati (2013)
- Manju Bharat Ram (2013)
- Narendra Dabholkar (2014)
- Mukul Chandra Goswami (2014)
- Durga Jain (2014)
- J. L. Kaul (2014)
- Mathur Savani (2014)
- Ashok Bhagat (2015)
- Janak Palta McGilligan (2015)
- Meetha Lal Mehta (2015)
- Veerendra Raj Mehta (2015)
- Bimla Poddar (2015)
- Madeleine Herman de Blic (2016)
- Madhu Pandit Dasa (2016)
- Ajoy Kumar Dutta (2016)
- Damal Kandalai Srinivasan (2016)
- Sunitha Krishnan (2016)
- Sundar Menon (2016)
- Arunachalam Muruganantham (2016)
- P. Gopinathan Nair (2016)
- Sudharak Olwe (2016)
- Girish Bharadwaj (2017)
- Appasaheb Dharmadhikari (2017)
- Bipin Ganatra (2017)
- Karimul Haque (2017)
- Anuradha Koirala (2017)
- Suhas Vitthal Mapuskar (2017)
- Daripalli Ramaiah (2017)
- Balbir Singh Seechewal (2017)
- Damodar Ganesh Bapat (2018)
- Sitavva Joddati (2018)
- Subhasini Mistry (2018)
- Sulagitti Narasamma (2018)
- Abdullah Bin Othman (2018)
- Sampat Ramteke (2018)
- Draupadi Ghimiray (2019)
- Bulu Imam (2019)
- Friederike Irina Bruning (2019)
- Chinna Pillai (2019)
- Shabbir Sayyad (2019)
- Jyoti Kumar Sinha (2019)
- Saalumarada Thimmakka (2019)
- Jamuna Tudu (2019)
- Muktaben Pankajkumar Dagli (2019)
- Jagdish Lal Ahuja (2020)
- Popatrao Baguji Pawar (2020)
- Usha Chaumar (2020)
- Lia Diskin (2020)
- Sangkhumi Bualchhuak (2020
- Tulsi Gowda (2020)
- Harekala Hajabba (2020)
- Tetsu Nakamura (2020)
- S. Ramakrishnan (2020)
- Sayed Mehboob Shah Qadri (2020)
- Mohammed Sharif (2020)
- Ramjee Singh (2020)
- Agus Indra Udayana (2020)
- Sundaram Verma (2020)
- Sindhutai Sapkal (2021)
- Girish Prabhune (2021)
- Prabhaben Shah (2022)
- Savaji Bhai Dholakia (2022)
- Gamit Ramilaben Raysingbhai (2022)
- Om Prakash Gandhi (2022)
- K V Rabiya (2022)
- Srimad Baba Balia (2022)
- Prem Singh (2022)
- Baba Iqbal Singh Ji (2022)
- S Damodaran (2022)
- Basanti Devi (2022)
- Bhiku Ramji Idate (2023)
- Bikram Bahadur Jamatia (2023)
- Ramkuiwangbe Jeme Newme (2023)
- Hirabai Lobi (2023)
- Moolchand Lodha (2023)
- Gajanan Jagannath Mane (2023)
- Uma Shankar Pandey (2023)
- V. P. Appukutta Poduval (2023)
- Vadivel Gopal and Masi Sadaiyan (2023)
- Sankurathri Chandra Sekhar (2023)
- Laxman Singh (2023)
- Palam Kalyana Sundaram (2023)
- Karma Wangchu (Posthumous) (2023)
- Sangthankima (2024)