Crossings Republik to get own fire station

Ghaziabad: Crossings Republik may finally get a fire station of its own as the consortium of builders has earmarked land for the same.
Though residents have been demanding a fire station since 2011, it picked up steam two years back but the consortium refused to part with land. Now, with the intervention of the district magistrate, the issue has been resolved. The fire department, however, says it will take at least an year to operationalise the fire station.
Crossings Republik is dotted with 28 highrise apartments which house about 30,000 families. There is not a single fire station in the township, the nearest being in Kotwali area which is a good 10km away.
“We’ve handed over 2,500 sq m of land adjacent to the police post. But when we went to Ghaziabad Development Authority to submit the proposal, we were told that the project will need to make amendments in the layout plan, which will be done only in the development body’s board meeting,” said Manoj Gaur, director, Crossings Infrastructure Private Limited (CIPL).
GDA said it has approved the land but rejected the layout plan. “It was rejected on technical grounds and we have asked them to bring the layout plan afresh,” said an official.
However, chief fire officer of Ghaziabad, Sunil Kumar Singh, said though the land has been provided, but it will require sanction from the state government. “Apart from the approval, the government will have to release money for the same and it will take time. In all probability, the fire station in the township will be operational only by next year,” he said.
Residents are now more or less happy. “Since 2011, we have been demanding a fire station, given the vulnerability of the township in case of a fire, but we had to run from one department to the other. Finally, after the intervention of district magistrate Ritu Maheshwari and Ghaziabad Development Authority vice chairperson, the Crossings Infrastructure Private Limited (CIPL) parted away with 2,500 sq m of land,” said Alok Kumar, president of Fed AOA.
Crossings Republik is Uttar Pradesh’s first township under the Integrated Township Scheme that came up in 2005. A consortium of builders under CIPL developed the township, and as per rule, 70% of the land was acquired by the builders while the remaining by the government agencies.
“The builders found enough land for building highrises, but never bothered about building civic infrastructure and the problem is the result of this mind set. Even after so many years, we are still waiting for a fire station,” said Kumar, the Fed AOA president.