Hyderabad: While they are on VVIP duty and on standby, operational capabilities of fire tenders in Hyderabad are suffering as infrastructure available with the Telangana State Disaster Response and Fire Services is hardly commensurate with the magnitude of the ever-growing city.
Two fire tenders, one from Musheerabad and another from Langer Houz, had been on constant standby duty at Assembly since the recent session started, as per officials from the fire department. Thankfully no major mishaps took place in the city during this time.
In a recent fire accident near Hydershakote, over 30 temporary huts of daily wage laborers got damaged beyond repair. The nearest fire station to this spot was the Langer Houz one, which was located around 5 km away. However, Chandulal Baradari, located over 11 km from the spot, attended the fire as the Langer House one was on duty at Assembly.
No injuries or deaths were reported as all the laborers were at work when accident happened.
“The Assembly fire station has only one multipurpose fire tender while at least three are required,” said a senior official from the department.Apart from standby at Assembly, through the year, at least one or two fire tending vehicles are always busy in standby services for either the CM or the governor. Currently, there are only 17 fire tenders of 4,500-liter capacity and seven mist vehicles of 300-liter capacity handling 625 sq. km area of Hyderabad. Of these, two are at Secretariat, one at High Court and another at Assembly fire stations. On busy days, only 10 to 11 fire tenders are available for citizens, the official said. A modern fire tender costs between Rs 25 and Rs 30 lakh and needs at least 10 fire fighting personnel on duty.
