Home Minister N. Narsimha Reddy has informed the Legislative Assembly that the government had made it mandatory to obtain licence from the Fire Services Department for establishing fire cracker shops in temporary/permanent building structures.
Replying to a query during Question Hour in the Legislative Council on Wednesday, the Minister said that orders had also been issued declaring that no place within Telangana should be used either in temporary/permanent building structures for sale/storage of fire crackers as it involved high risk, except in accordance with the terms and conditions of a licence to be issued by an authorised officer. The government was resolved to continue its fight in the court for vacating the fire cracker shops in Malakpet area where the owners obtained stay on orders issued for vacating the place.
In addition to the existing fire tenders, the government had recently introduced fire tenders on two-wheelers — a bullet carrying the necessary tools to extinguish fire even in small lanes and bylanes. Leader of the Opposition, Mohd. Ali Shabbir sought to know whether the government had taken steps to set up fire services department offices in all the 31 newly constituted districts.
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Another Congress member Ponguleti Sudhakar Reddy said there were significant changes in fire safety technology . The government should constitute a team to study the best practices available internationally and adopt the same in the new State. Efforts should also be made to enact Telangana State Fire Services Act plugging the loopholes in the existing act and incorporating stringent provisions.
NIMS modernisation
Health Minister C. Lakshma Reddy said the government had proposed modernisation of the Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences with an estimated Rs. 120 crore. The government had spent Rs. 42 crore so far for purchase of equipment and the construction of a building (G+3) was underway on the hospital premises to accommodate the attendants of the patients who come for treatment. The works would be completed within two years.
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He was replying to a query from TRS member Paturi Sudhakar Reddy who sought to know the status of works on modernising NIMS on the lines of the AIIMS. Congress member K. Rajgopal Reddy lamented that the in-patient services at NIMS Bibinagar were not started more than 30 months after the TRS government took over the reins. There was a widespread feeling among doctors that they were being posted to NIMS Bibinagar as punishment transfer, he said, stressing the need for completing the works at the earliest and making it a full-fledged hospital with an independent director at the helm.