VISAKHAPATNAM: Despite repeated demands from people and proposals from officials, delay in setting up new fire stations continues in state.
For example, there was a proposal to set up fire stations in Simhachalam and Madhurawada areas in Vizag city limits. However, there was not much progress for the proposal.
Vizag, the only coastal city in Andhra Pradesh, and the biggest city positioned between Kolkata and Chennai, has been growing in all regards and multi-storey residential and commercial establishments are mushrooming. Vizag is proposed to be the executive capital of the state but the fire service department in the city is not equipped in terms of number of fire stations, machinery and manpower.
A senior officer with the fire service department said there is a dearth of fire stations and modern equipment in the existing fire stations. As per the norms, for every 50,000 population, there should be one fire station, but AP has only 173 fire stations and there is an urgent need to increase the number to deal with various types of accidents. The capital expenditure for setting up a fire station is 6 crore, he added.
It may be recalled that the then chief minister Chandrababu Naidu had proposed to set up more fire stations on the lines of Odisha after he was much impressed with Odisha personnel’s massive relief and restoration efforts after cyclone Hudhud hit Vizag and other parts of the state in 2014. However, the proposal still remains on paper.
