It will be a full and tense day and night duty for the 1,300 personnel of the Telangana State Disaster Response and Fire Services Department (TSDRFSD) when Hyderabad and the rest of Telangana celebrates Deepavali on Thursday.
Majority of the 180 large vehicles and 138 bike fire engines will be stationed at strategic locations chosen in tandem with the local police, especially where cracker stalls are located. Within the twin cities, about 60 large truck engines and about 50 two-wheeler quick response teams have been readied.
These two-member teams armed with fire extinguishers will be deployed to deal with any fire quickly before they turn into major mishaps as they can easily manoeuvre traffic and congested roads, said Regional Fire Service Officer, Central Region, V. Papaiah. There were over 60 fire related complaints last year during Diwali, he said.
The fire services department had issued about 4,435 licences to cracker shops, mostly in Hyderabad, with Malkajgiri 679, Hyderabad 556, Kukatpally 420, Secunderabad 274, Rangareddy 229 and Rajendranagar 187. In rest of the State, shops were allowed in Khammam 337, Warangal 263 followed by Nizamabad 182 and Nalgonda 162.
Areas of focus for fire personnel are Siddiamber Bazaar, Osmangunj, Langer Houz, Phool Bagh, Banjara Hills, Amberpet, Lower Tank Bund, Yousufguda, and Moosarambagh. Mr. Papaiah urged people to light crackers in open spaces, and keep two buckets of water nearby, one for discarding used fireworks.
A couple of blankets should also be kept ready. Citizens have been told to call up ‘101’ or 9949991101 or 8712699444 or the nearest fire station in case of any emergency.
