Three years after Hudhud, the city still has only the three fire stations that were set up in 1942.
Visakhapatnam: Inspired by the Odisha model of disaster management, the AP government had planned to set up more fire stations and increase manpower along the coast to better respond to natural disasters. Three years after Hudhud devastated the port city, nothing has done so far.
Though the AP government announced the formation of State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) to tackle natural disasters, it has not focused on strengthening the two units.
Regional fire officer B. Sreenivasulu, who oversees six districts, said the fire department, in association with the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), was preparing a city disaster management plan for Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada. The plan would identify the possible sources of fire mishaps and natural disasters and action plans would be laid out to deal with them. It will take some more time to draft the plan, he added.
A senior officer with the Odisha State Disaster Management Authority said that after learnt lessons from 1999 super cyclone, the Odisha government had given top priority to strengthen fire stations. Odisha has a fire station all its 335 blocks, each of them equipped with not only fire tenders but also high-end equipment along with boats, multi cutters, tower lights among others to respond to disasters.
AP Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu had announced the setting up of more fire stations on the lines of Odisha. Three years after Hudhud, the city still has only the three fire stations that were set up in 1942. While not a single fire station has been added, the shortage of manpower was one of the major issues, said a senior official.
Statewide, there are not enough fire stations. As per norms there should be a fire station for every 50,000 population. In six districts from Srikakulam to Krishna, there is one for every 2 lakh population. Six districts have 85 fire stations and five fire outposts, said Mr Sreenivasulu.
