Fire-fighting arrangements not adequate to counter any mishaps
Noida and Greater Noida have become populous cities. In addition, several housing projects are underway in Noida Extension. In the last two years, 397 hectares of land has been dedicated for group housing schemes and that has led to a hike in population density. The density of Gautam Budh Nagar is 1,252 now as compared to 898 in 2001.
Delhi, Noida and Ghaziabad are quake prone areas and need to be equipped with adequate fire fighting arrangements. “The NCR lies on a seismic fault line which makes the city fall in zone 4 (high damage). Also, there are two rivers that run through the city – Yamuna and Hindon – and their floodplains actually lie in zone 5 (very high damage). This effectively means that the Ghaziabad and Noida belong to zone 5. Such alarming signals cannot be ignored,” said Yamuna Jiye Abhiyaan convener, Manoj Mishra.
The fire department has four fire stations with 20 fire tenders of various capacities ranging from 2,500 litres to 12,000 litre water tanks and one hydraulic machine in the district to cater to an area of 1,338 square km and a population of around 17 lakh in sector 2, sector 58, Phase-II and Greater Noida. Even though the number of high-rises in the city have been increasing steadily, the fire-fighting arrangements are not adequate to counter any mishaps that may occur in them.
Fire department officials, however, said that almost all high-rise buildings are fully equipped with a fire staircase, fire pumps and extinguishers and are fully prepared to during a crisis is questionable. However, whenever there is a fire in low rises and slums, fire department officials often look towards Delhi for rescue. Though there is no formal arrangement with the Delhi Government, a SOS to Delhi fire service stations often bails them out.
State fire officer Abhaybhan Pandey said, “The department is working to revaluate fire fighting demand in the district. The exercise would be completed within the next 15 days. Then a proposal would be sent to the state government to enhance fire fighting arrangements.”
“According to the UP government order, it is the development authority’s responsibility to provide at least one fire station for every 10km radius,” said a fire department official. He added that they also have shortage of staff. Ideally, a water tender team consists of one head constable, four firemen, one driver and a sub-inspector. But the same does not exist in Noida. “Even after approaching the higher authorities in the state government, only two seasonal fire stations were sanctioned, including the one in Jevar that is 94km away from Noida,” added the official.
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