An HPCL spokesperson did not respond to requests for comments. THE STATE Urban Development Department has issued a notification keeping the reservation of fire station at Anik village in the Chembur district despite objection from the Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL).
The notification was issued on October 20 under Section 37 (IAA) C of the Maharashtra Regional Town Planning act by the department’s undersecretary Nirmal Chaudhari.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Chaudhari said, “HPCL said that they already had a fire station and also sent out their tenders whenever needed, but the BMC insisted that they needed a fire station to cater a lot of fires that happen in the refinery area. The state had shown willingness to delete reservation of a fire station, but we still felt that the BMC was highly justified.”
A fire brigade officer said that whenever a big calamity arises, then all the oil companies send their tenders, but when there is a big calamity apart from incidents involving refineries, then a fire tender has to be sent from the Chembur Naka fire station and Mankhurd, which takes time to reach the spot.
An HPCL spokesperson did not respond to requests for comments.
- The Indian Express website has been rated GREEN for its credibility and trustworthiness by Newsguard, a global service that rates news sources for their journalistic standards.
