Bilaspur : The Chhattisgarh High Court has been informed that nine fully constructed and operational fire stations are currently functioning in the state, along with 145 fire tenders deployed at the district level.
The details were placed before the Court through an affidavit filed by the Director General of Home Guards, Civil Defence, Emergency Services and the State Disaster Response Force. The affidavit was submitted in compliance with earlier directions issued in a suo motu case initiated after a newspaper report flagged delays in the construction of a fire station in Bilaspur, despite the city’s growing population and recurring fire incidents.
According to the affidavit, operational fire stations are located in Durg, Nava Raipur, Ambikapur, Jagdalpur, Janjgir-Champa, Korba, Raigarh, Rajnandgaon and Kabirdham. Of these, Durg and Nava Raipur have A-category fire stations, while the remaining are B-category stations. A new fire station is under construction at Urla-Siltara, and tenders have been floated for additional stations in other districts.
On fire tenders, the affidavit states that 76 were provided by the Fire and Emergency Services Department, 39 by municipal bodies and 31 by district magistrates, taking the total to 145 at the district level. In addition, 55 fire tenders are operational at the block level across 23 districts.
District-wise data placed before the Court shows that Raipur has the highest number of fire tenders at 22. Durg and Bilaspur follow with 10 each. Some districts, including Gaurela-Pendra-Marwahi and Sarangarh-Bilaigarh, have only one fire tender each at present.
A Division Bench led by Chief Justice Ramesh Sinha, while taking note of the affidavit on February 5, observed that earlier directions had been substantially complied with. The Court recorded that detailed district-wise data had been furnished and that concrete administrative and contractual steps were taken to move forward the long-pending Bilaspur fire station project.
At the same time, the Bench indicated that the actual progress of construction work and strengthening of fire safety infrastructure across the state would require continued monitoring.
