Arunachal plans to set up disaster relief centre

The Arunachal Pradesh government has asked the state police department to prepare a plan and work out modalities for setting up a disaster relief centre, an official said on Friday. The state government has 25 acres of land at Hollongi, where a base of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has already been developed and the proposed centre could be built in the area, Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar suggested.

The department could emulate the model of the (proposed) centre with all necessary equipment and adequate manpower from other successful states for establishing it for quick response during disasters, Kumar said at the inauguration of a fire station and a yoga centre here.

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He said the state falls under the seismic zone V and asked forces to be prepared for any eventuality. We must explore possibilities of integrated approach by all the disaster response forces in the state during emergency, Kumar said. He assured fire brigade officials to complete all the ongoing projects in a time-bound manner. Director General of Police R P Upadhyaya lauded Arunachal Pradesh Police Housing Corporation Ltd for completing the Rs eight crore fire station with space for parking eight fire tenders.

Under the police modernisation scheme, the state government had sanctioned Rs 24 crore for three such fire stations at Itanagar, Naharlagun and Pasighat, he said. About 80 per cent of construction works of the Naharlagun fire station and 70 per cent of the Pasighat station have been completed, Upadhyaya said.

The DGP said that the state presently has 23 fire stations and out of which, two are not functioning at Longding and Hawai due to ongoing construction works. We have submitted proposals to the government for setting up of 34 new fire stations in the state, he said, adding that the fire services department presently has only 351 personnel and 61 fire tenders along with 21 quick response vans.

Coverage of fire services in the state is limited due to difficult terrain for which we are focusing on creating mass awareness through education on how to take preventive measures to avoid fire incidents, the police chief added.

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