‘Fire dept will ensure fire tenders reach spot without any delay’

Sovan Chatterjee, the state Fire and Emergency Services Minister, said he would talk to senior officers of the Kolkata Police so that fire tenders can reach a spot without losing time.

It may be mentioned that many times local people complain about delay in the arrival of fire fighters which tarnishes the image of the department, despite setting out from fire stations within the minimum time possible after receiving an information.

The main reason behind the delay is traffic congestion. Though traffic police try their level best to clear the congestion to make way for a fire tender, sometimes, it becomes difficult for them to clear the road. As a result fire tenders also need to remain stuck behind a queue of vehicles.

The “green corridor” for fire tenders will help the fire fighters reach the spot on time and the quantum of damage in each and every case can be reduced.

Chatterjee said: “Being the Mayor, I have to take care of the Kolkatans.” As he is also the fire minister he said he will take initiatives so that people of nook and corner of the state gets benefitted.

He said that following the direction of the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, one or two fire tenders will be kept stationed near the congested areas including Kidderpore, Garden reach, Gariahat and Shyambazar.

On Friday, Chatterjee inaugurated one of the same near Burabazar. One big fire tender will remain stationed just beside North Port Police station and a medium sized one will be at Kalakar Street every day except Sunday from 8 am to 8 pm.

 On Sundays, there will be one fire tender.He said, at present there are 125 fire stations and initiative has been taken to set up 25 to 30 more. Around 56 fire tenders are now GPS enabled and steps would be taken for further modernisation of the fire fighting system.