Vijayawada, Vizag soon to have disaster management plans

The Fire Department, in association with the National Disaster Response Force is preparing ‘City Disaster Management Plan’ for the cities to deal with emergencies effectively.

Regional Fire Officer for six districts B Sreenivasulu during a press conference in Visakhapatnam on Saturday | Express

VISAKHAPATNAM: In an attempt to deal with the emergency situation more effectively, the Fire Department, in association with the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), is preparing ‘City Disaster Management Plan’ for Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam. The move would explore the possibilities and sources of fire mishaps and natural disasters in the respective cities and action plans would be laid out to deal with them. Announcing this during a media meet at Visakhapatnam on Saturday, Regional Fire Officer for six districts B Sreenivasulu said as per the NDRF Act, a city with a population of one million and above should have a disaster management plan. 

“Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam, being the administrative and financial capital of the state respectively,  should have their respective disaster management plans. The plan will profile the possible sources of fire accidents and natural disasters and examine whether the cities have the necessary preparedness in terms of manpower and equipment. In case of Vizag, the focus will be on industrial accidents and cyclones,” said Sreenivasulu, adding that the plans would be ready in two months.

The fire taskforce teams are being strengthened for six districts. The task force teams, he said, have proved their mettle during the recent rescue operations undertaken in Vinukonda mandal of Guntur by saving a two-year-old. “At present, a task force team has 12 members. We have sent them to Odisha for maritime rescue training for two months and one month to Hyderabad for medical first response training programme. Training in various operations will continue to make the teams ready for action in case of emergency,” said  Sreenivasulu. He also added that depending on the performance of the taskforce team, they may increase the crew members.

Disaster preparedness

• Vijayawada and Vizag to have respective disaster management plans
• The plan will profile the possible sources of fire accidents and natural disasters and examine whether the cities have the necessary preparedness in terms of manpower and equipment
• Vizag plan to focus more on industrial mishaps and cyclones
• Fire taskforce teams to be strengthened and personnel sent for specific training to deal with emergencies

22 more fire stations to come up in state

Referring to the number of fire stations in the state, Sreenivasulu said that for every 50,000 population, there should be a fire station. “At present, the ratio is one fire station for every 2 lakh population for six districts which have 85 fire stations and five fire outposts. Fire stations are set up keeping in view the number of calls the region receives. There are 14 Assembly constituencies in the six districts which do not have fire stations. We have sent a proposal to set up one in each. Eight more fire stations will also be set up in the rest of the state,” he added.