Going by fire advisory panel norms, city needs 30 more fire stations

Pune needs 30 more fire stations

The Carlton tower fire in Bangalore, which left nine dead and more than 50 people injured, should be a wake up call for the city. The city faces a serious shortage of fire stations.

According to an Advisory Committee of the Cenre, there should be a fire station for every lakh residents. This means Pune, with a population of 40 lakh, needs 30 more fire stations to respond properly to any fire.

The need is especially felt in newly developed areas such as Wagholi, Kharadi, Kondhwa and NIBM Road.

Today, the city has only 10 fire stations, which means these add up to only one-fourth of the number required.
Source revealed that whenever there is an emergency call from Kondhwa, a fire tender is sent from the central fire station, about 8 km away. The official said, "It affects response time. The story is repeated when a fire breaks out at Wagholi or at Saswad. Fire stations grapple with time to cover areas because of a fire station crunch."

A survey done by the state last year showed there was a huge gap between the desired fire service infrastructure compared to the existing infrastructure. And he government has issued a notification saying it is the responsibility of all municipal corporations to implement the Development Control Rules in at least a 10 kms beyond the jurisdiction of the corporation.

M V Deshmukh, fire advisor to the government and director of Maharashtra Fire Services, said "The proposal submitted for closing the gap has already accepted by the state Government and Rs 285 crore were sanctioned under the Maharashtra Agni Suraksha Abhiyan (Maharashtra Fire Protection Mission) in the month of November."

Prashant Ranpise, officiating Chief Fire Officer, said, "Earlier the norms laid down by Standing Fire Advisory Committee of Government of India and of state suggested that there should be one fire station to cover 4-10 km. As PMC's fire department covers 243.81 square km area, we need at least 40 fire stations in place."

To address the issue, Ranpise said a nod had been given by the corporation for four to five fire stations.

"The issue was brought up before the PMC budget meeting, and the civic chief has give the nod for the opening of 4-5 fire stations on a prority basis," he said. "Kondhwa fire station will open soon near Lula Nagar, Baner fire staion near Gangadham in Bibvewadi , and one will open in Kharadi soon."

1,440
Calls received by Fire Control Room in 2008, 92 of which were related to LPG leakage

1,968
Calls received by Fire Control Room in 2009, 116 of which were about LPG leakage

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