AP tops in modernisation of fire services: Vanitha

Vijayawada: Home and disaster management minister Taneti Vanitha has said Andhra Pradesh state disaster response and fire service department is at the top among states, in terms of modernization of the fire services.

The minister conducted a review meeting on fire safety standards in the state with officials, at the secretariat in Velagapudi on Wednesday.

 

Vigilance and enforcement director general and fire service gazette notification committee chairman, Ravisankar Ayyannar, submitted a report to the minister.

Vanitha said the state government was implementing the “easy steps” for fire safety. The government has issued six notifications recently, she said, and added that the ‘No Objection Certificates’ (NOCs) issuing process for buildings etc would be made easier.

After the completion of a study about fire services across the country, the committee has recommended the best practices for implementation. Along the lines of the central government’s Fire Force Bill – 2019, the AP Fire Service Act – 2019 has been amended, she explained.

The minister said the committee recommended that the building construction NOC applications be sent to the fire authorities through the local bodies. On the lines of Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Defense Services, Women Fire Officers would be recruited for the fire department and the uniform code would be amended.

Home department principal secretary Harish Guptha, intelligence DG Anjaneyulu, Fire Services DG Sunil Kumar, civil defense and training institute director Venkata Ramana, director of fire services Murali Mohan, additional directors Srinivasulu and Gnana Sundaram and others attended the meeting.