Lucknow, 29 February: Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said on Thursday that Uttar Pradesh has established 73 fire stations in the last seven years and is on track to become the first state in the country to have a fire station at the tehsil level. Inaugurating/laying the foundation stone for 38 fire stations virtually from his official house, the CM said, “UP Fire and Emergency Services was created in the state in 1944.
However, only 288 fire stations were created in the state till 2017, whereas 71 additional fire stations were established over the prior seven years. Today, we are on track to be the first state in the country to have fire stations at the tehsil level.”
The Chief Minister also waved off 35 firefighting trucks on occasion. He stated, “We have advanced a program of extensive reforms in law enforcement.” As a result, fire services are rapidly modernizing due to their role in dealing with crises. So far, we have invested around Rs 1400 crore to boost departmental services.
Chief Minister Adityanath emphasized substantial progress made towards modernizing the department during the last seven years, particularly the quick deployment of officers. These initiatives have shown noticeable effects, he noted, noting that past concerns about the difficulty of the NOC procedure were common. We implemented various changes to streamline it, leading to a substantial enhancement in Uttar Pradesh’s ease of doing business ranking in recent years” , he said.
He stressed the need of lowering firefighter response time in order to reduce loss of life and property. “Significant improvements have been achieved in this area in recent years, resulting in the rescue of 3,780 people in over 33,000 fire incidents. Furthermore, the lives of around 5,000 animals and assets worth Rs 150 crore were spared from being harmed. Furthermore, the agency stays watchful in managing agricultural fires during high winds and has prioritized modernizing emergency services to meet these concerns,” he stated.
He also stated that the administration has modernized fire services and formed the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) in the state. SDRF currently has six entities in existence.
Furthermore, the establishment of the Special Security Force to defend significant structures and institutions inside the state has been accomplished. By furthering these initiatives, the government hopes to boost the trust of citizens, investors, and visitors. Within one and a half years, fire stations will be created at the district level, followed by tehsils in the second phase.
The Chief Minister stated that decreasing department response times will increase the public’s faith in the department and the administration. “We must guarantee that individuals receive assistance soon following a fire. The campaign should include training and counseling for youngsters in schools and colleges on preventative and rescue actions.
This is critical not just for relying on the department during normal business hours, but also for initiating preventive immediately once an incident happens. We must prepare individuals in advance for prevention. Identify the carelessness that causes fires and educate people on how to prevent loss of life so that people may carry out rescue operations at their own level until help arrives. Every occurrence should teach us a lesson, and we should impart that lesson to others so that carelessness may be avoided, he stated.
Yogi condemned people’s insensitivity following accidents, such as snapping pictures at the scene rather than aiding the sufferer. He also attended an exhibition organized by the agency and learned about firefighting equipment from experts.
