The State Disaster Response and Fire Services Department is planning to set-up an exclusive fire and disaster management training institute in Visakhapatnam.
This was disclosed by the Director General of State Disaster Response and Fire Services K. Satyanarayana, at a meeting organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), here on Tuesday.
He said the training institute will not only cater to the department personnel but will be open to people from all walks of life.
“Basic training in disaster management and fire is important and everyone should undergo it. And idea is to build a good and strong voluntary force,” he said.
This apart, Mr. Satyanarayana said plans were afoot to train all the private security staff in industries and shopping malls, as they are the first responders to a crisis.
According to him, most of the private security staff employed by the industries and big shopping malls lack basic training and they are inept in even handling a small fire extinguisher.
Responding to a query from the industry captains that the rules framed under the National Building Code and AP Fire Services Act were very stringent, Mr. Satyanarayana said a committee has been formed to study the rules and suggest the necessary changes.
The DG was critical of the way how some of the industries were applying for the provisional no objection certificate (NOC).
Provisional NOC is to be applied during the construction phase and not after the construction is over. But many of the industries do not bother to apply during the construction phase and that is why many of the NOCs are still pending, he said.
To ease out the problem, Mr. Satyanarayana said efforts were on to make the provisional NOC application process online by the end of this year. “It is going to be user-friendly and the time frame for processing and issuing the certificate will not exceed nine days. In the event of delay, an SMS alert will be generated on its own to the DG, he said.
GVMC Commissioner M. Hari Narayanan in his address said safety norms should be followed keeping in mind the perspective of saving human life and not just obtaining a certificate.
CII-AP, Chairman G.S. Shiv Kumar, Regional Fire Service Officer S.V. Chowdary, and V. Muralikrishna, CII-Vizag Chairman spoke.
