Visakhapatnam:
The population of Visakhapatnam grew to 25 lakh over years, but the number of fire stations did not increase since 1942. The city has only three fire stations against the requirement of 20. No new fire station was added since 1942 despite fire department authorities submitting a number of representations to the district administration and Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC).
The proposal for setting up 15 new fire stations on a priority basis is hanging fire due lack of political will. Besides, the firefighting equipment in the city and elsewhere in the district is outdated.
When a fire broke out at Annapurna Hospital at Dwarakanagar in August 2011, fire service personnel took help from the Port Trust and the Indian Navy to deal with the fire.
Speaking to Express,district fire officer SV Narasimham said as per the National Standing Fire Advisory Committee (NSFAC) norms there should be a fire station for every 50,000 population or every 10 sq km.
Outlining the guidelines of the National Building Code regarding high- rise buildings, Convener of the Forum for Better Visakha (FBV), EAS Sarma said construction of a water tank with a minimum capacity of 50,000 litres exclusively for firefighting, a separate staircase for evacuation of people and installation of modern firefighting gadgets are the essential safety arrangements that a builder should ensure. But most of them do not following the norms, he added.
He alleged that the government was giving priority to Hyderabad in establishing new fire stations, while Visakhapatnam has become a furnace of sorts with increasing number of industries.