Fire services dept faces acute shortage of staff, equipment

Vijayawada: Ferry accident in River Krishna at Pavitra Sangamam on Sunday evening highlighted the need for strengthening the Andhra Pradesh State Disaster Response and Fire Services Department (APSDRFSD) to tackle disasters and save lives of people in the State.

The APSDRFSD popularly known as Fire services department is the biggest department in the State combating disasters. Services of this department should be increased to save the lives of people. Due to not receiving quick help from rescue teams, 22 people lost their lives in the tragic mishap in Krishna river.

Local fishermen and rescue teams saved 20 lives after struggle. Even Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu complimented two fishermen for saving lives. The State government is mainly depending on NDRF teams for rescue operations during major accidents and calamities.

Now, it is the time to develop our own disaster management department to become self reliant. Unfortunately, the State government is not strengthening our own fire services department.

The APSDRFSD consists of 2,000 staff and has offices across the State. Before bifurcation of the State, the former head of APSDRFSD and the present DGP N Sambasiva Rao had taken an initiative to strengthen the department and took special care to train the staff to face disasters and save lives of the people trapped in disasters.

After bifurcation of the State, the AP government is not paying attention to it. Consequently, the State has to rely on National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams to take up rescue operations. Compared to the fire services departments in other States like Odisha and Tamil Nadu, the APSDRFSD has very less staff.

Fire services and disaster response department of Tamil Nadu has 8000 staff. Similarly, in Odisha the same department has more than 5,000 staff. The AP has only 193 fire engines compared to 375 vehicles in Tamil Nadu and 425 vehicles in Orissa.

A senior officer of the Fire Services department has underlined the need to strengthen the department to face disasters and save the valuable lives of trapped people. He said the APSDRFSD needs more sophisticated equipment and manpower.

He said the department needs more inflated rubber boats, inflatable lighting towers, portable generators, fire extinguishers, fire entry suits, fire proximity suits, breathing apparatus sets, chipping hammers, saw blades, hydraulic jacks, angle cutters, circular saws, air lifting bags and many more.

Time plays crucial role in saving the lives of victims in disasters. Within a short span of 30 minutes, 22 tourists lost their lives in the boat mishap at Pavitra Sangamam near Vijayawada on Sunday. Local fishermen saved lives of 16 tourists from drowning.

If the APSDRFSD teams and NDRF teams reached early, more people could have been saved, said the survivors and eyewitness. The NDRF teams work as per the national rule.

If the State government strengthens the APSDRFSD, the department can draft small units at multiple places in cities like Vijayawada, Vizag, Tirupati and many more to combat disasters and save the lives of people by reaching the accident spot within short span of time.

By Md Ameen