Bangalore: Consider this: if a fire accident occurs in Yelahanka, it may have to be attended to by personnel from fire station on Seshadri Road, almost 10 km away. Fire tenders take time to cover this distance, which may result in the fire spreading, perhaps adding to the number of casualties. The distance from a designated fire station to an accident site is an important factor affecting quick response to a fire alarm call.

New project

The situation is set to change, thanks to plans under K-SAFE 2010, Karnataka State Accelerated Fire and Emergency Services Improvement Project.

Apart from Bangalore, the Rs. 323.3-crore project will also help the district and taluk towns have fire-fighting units by 2010. The process of acquiring land for fire stations is already on and some of the existing fire stations in the city are also to be modernised.

The new fire stations are proposed to come up at Nagarbhavi, Banashankari 6th Stage, Hebbal, Whitefield, Sarjapur Road, Anekal, Hoskote, Devanhalli and Doddaballapur.

As per global fire safety norms, one equipped fire-fighting unit with a vehicle is required for every 50,000 persons in a city. Bangalore would require 146 such units with at least one vehicle each but as of now, only 34 units exist.

Once the population and geographical area increases under Greater Bangalore, the lack of fire-fighting units may be felt more acutely. Those in the fire and emergency services have also been asking the civic administration and the government for facilities other than fire engines and stations.

Dedicated lanes for fire engines are absent even in certain multi-storey buildings. This was pointed out in the case of a large mall near Mayo Hall several months ago and remedial measures were taken to clear a wide lane all around the building.

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