Most fire stations don’t have borewells, sumps
During this summer there are chances of fires increasing due to electrical short circuits, gas explosions, garbage burning etc. But the city's fire stations are not geared up for it as many fire stations in the city don't have water storage sumps.
There are 17 fire stations in the city, but most of them don't have a bore well or a sump to store water. An amount of Rs 23 crore was sanctioned to the fire department as per the 13th finance commission report for construction of sumps and bore wells
"The first sump was planned at Malakpet fire station, but that was left incomplete due to lack of funds," said an official on condition of anonymity.
He added, “The contractor who started construction of the sump said that he spent Rs 8 crore on the project. As funds ran out he left midway. Now, the sump remains half completed since 18 months.”
“If any fire call comes, we have to collect water from the Aasmangarh water filter as HMWS&SB provides us free water. But this summer we will face difficulties as tankers will queue up for water. In worst case scenarios we collect water from Balapur, that is, if water is not provided from Aasmangarh,” said another official.
"However, this is not the case with Malakpet fire station alone. Almost every other station face the problem. The amount of money and time wasted by fire tenders to collect water by making multiple trips to water stations is huge. If sumps are provided for all stations this can be avoided," noted one official.
When contacted regional fire officer V. Papaiah said the works are looked after by the Police Housing Corporation, and that they would be completing it soon.