Patna DM Chandrasehkhar Singh: Provide relief to victims within 24 hours of fire incident

PATNA: District magistrate Chandrasehkhar Singh on Wednesday issued instructions to the officials concerned for providing relief and compensation to the affected persons within 24 hours of the fire incident during peak summer months. "The state experiences severe heat from March to June.
During this period, fire incidents also occur due to high-speed westerly wind and excessive heat," the DM said, while chairing a review meeting with the officials.
He further said, "In the event of fire in villages, there is loss of life and property in the fields, barns and standing crops. In such a situation, compliance should be ensured by taking measures to prevent fire incidents. The local officers should immediately inform the senior officials about every small and big incidents of fire.
Steps should be taken as per Standard Operating Procedure (SOP)." The DM said the SOP had been formed by the disaster management department to deal with the fire disaster and instructions were sent from time to time. "Strict compliance of the SOP can prevent incidents of fire," he said.
The DM also appealed to the people to follow the preventive measures, and said: "Even a small flame of fire can turn into a big fire in a moment. Therefore, vigilance is necessary at the level of every person."
The district fire officer in the meeting said that 80 vehicles of the fire department were operational in Patna district, in which 36 were of 400 liters and 44 vehicles were of more than 4,500 liters capacity. "There are 10 fire stations in the district in which six are in urban areas and four are in rural areas. Also, nine sub-divisional level fire brigade officers are working," he said.
The DM issued instruction to keep all the fire fighting vehicles in the fire stations and police stations ready 24X7 along with the driver and other resources, so that in the hour of need it could be sent to the spot immediately.
Singh also directed the executive engineers of energy department to arrange electric wires at a safe height (more than 12 feet), so that fire brigade vehicles can easily be transported in the streets when needed. He directed regular updating of route charts of vulnerable places in all panchayats of the district according to fire incidents.
The DM said as per the government norms, as soon as the information about the fire incident is received, the officials of disaster management of the district and their team should reach the spot and ensure assistance to the victims soon. In case of a major fire incident, the sub-divisional officer concerned should reach the spot as soon as possible and ensure help.