Vijayawada: Guntur district tops the list of fire related cases in the state. The fire department has issued 421 prosecution proceedings across the state this year till March 31 over irregularities in fire safety norms. Out of the total proceedings issued in the state as many as 113 are only in Guntur district which would be more than 25% of the total cases in the state.
Interestingly, there were no cases pending in the districts of Srikakulam and West Godavari according to the data given by the fire department. However, director general of fire services and disaster management K. Satyanarayana clarified that data pertaining to Srikakulam and West Godavari was incomplete and needed to be updated.
He observed that many commercial and industrial establishments in Guntur district did not comply with the fire safety norms.
“There were many cold storage units in Guntur district without safety measures and we have issued prosecution proceedings against them,” he said. Prakasam, Visakhapatnam and Vizainagaram districts followed respectively in number of cases.
The fire department has conducted inspections, found irregularities at 1,222 hazardous locations across the state, and issued notices this year. Guntur district also tops the list with 220 cases followed by Srikakulam with 200 cases, Kurnool with 132 cases, YSR Kadapa with 123 cases and Krishna district with 122 cases. Anantapur and Prakasam have less number of cases with 12 and 13 cases respectively.
In fire accident cases also Guntur district tops the list with almost 50 per cent of the cases registered in the district. Out of the total 50 prosecution proceedings issued in the state, 24 of them were in Guntur district.
Fire department to get high-end vehicles soon
Fire department would get five advanced first rescue-respond vehicles. These vehicles would be placed at Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, Guntur Tirupati and Kurnool districts. Director general of fire services K. Satyanarayana has said that in the second phase, all districts will have at least one advanced first response vehicles. He said these vehicles wou-ld be equipped with all tools to respond in any kind of emergency.
Mr Satyanarayana held a meeting with fire officers of all districts on Wednesday to explain them about the new tools that are going to be introduced in the fire department. Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Mr Satyanarayana said they are strengthening the district fire units. He said new improvised tools are being provided to the district units and the fire officers were given a demo on them.
