At a time when the State government is forging ahead with its plans to enhance the response to fire accidents, a fire station is still a distant dream for the islanders of Vypeen, who live in the vicinity of major gas-based industrial installations in the State. In case of an emergency, they have to wait for fire tenders to reach from places as far as the Kochi city or even North Paravur, which takes an average of 30 to 40 minutes to reach the accident spot.
“While internationally, response time for fires is at a maximum of four minutes, in Vypeen the time taken by the brigade to reach the destination is an average of 25 minutes,” said officials at the fire department. Though fire stations at Club Road and Gandhi Nagar are relatively closer, heavy traffic along the congested Goshree Road makes it impossible for them to reach on time.
“In this case, time is people’s lives. What we need is a station right here that is better placed to respond to emergencies on the island,” said Soujath Abdul Jabbar, president of Vypeen block panchayat. The call for an upgraded fire response system for Vypeen gained momentum after two major blazes were reported on a single day at two different locations here last month.
According to Ms. Jabbar, the issue assumes significance given the high-density of population on the island. Despite repeated petitioning to authorities including the District Collector and the Chief Minister, due attention has not been paid to the demand, she added.
Commenting on the issue, Divisional Fire Officer R. Prasad said a process was on to identify a suitable location with adequate garage space and road width for establishing the station. “A couple of panchayats in the island have come forward to provide land for the station,” he said.
The department is now considering a location at Elankunnapuzha panchayat and has entrusted officials to assess its viability. “We have approached the panchayat secretary to expedite the process of identifying the land. A final decision regarding the acquisition of land will have to come from the headquarters,” officials said.
