Assam Fire Service fighting fire with inadequate staff as hundreds of posts lying vacant!

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: Firefighting with inadequate staff strength is no mean task! The Fire and Emergency Service, Assam has been making do with around 500 posts lying vacant.

The ground situation in Assam is such that the 33 districts in the State have altogether 137 fire stations. Even as the department sought 42 more fire stations, Dispur has sanctioned only 13 in February this year.

According to rules, there should be a fire station after an area of every 10 square km in urban areas and 50 square km in rural areas. However, this standard density of fire stations is far from being achieved in the State.

According to a senior official in the department, the State Fire Service has as many as 500 posts of station officers, sub-officers, leading firemen, firemen, drivers, cooks etc lying vacant. “We’ve staff strength, as on March 31, 2019, of 2,669. And of them 356 are State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) personnel,” the official said, and added: “The department is taking step to conduct direct recruitment for the filling up of the around 500 vacancies.”

On the infrastructure front, the official said that construction of building infrastructure is also going on. In fiscal 2018-19, five permanent outstation building projects have been completed and the construction of 23 other station building projects are going on in full swing, he added. This apart, the works of four more buildings – one each in Hamren, Maibong, Kalain and Mankachar – have been approved. “The department is taking steps to regularize the ad-hoc fire stations and also to establish new fire stations as per norms of the Standing Fire Advisory Council, the Government of India. Against the 42 new notified fire stations, Dispur has sanctioned only 13 fire stations along with manpower and construction works,” the official said. The new fire stations (one each) are going to be set up at Lala in Hailakandi district; Tamulpur, Jalah and Salbari in Baksa district; Gogamukh in Dhemaji district; Mandia in Barpeta district; Mahur in Dima Hasao district; Barkhola in Cachar district, Fakiraganj and South Salmara in South Salmara district; Basugaon in Chirang district; Ambagan in Nagaon district and Narayanpur in North Lakhimpur district.

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