Call for opening of fire stations at Kundha and Pandalur taluks in the Nilgiris

Activists urge government to open fire stations at Kundah and Pandalur to reduce response times in Nilgiris taluks.

With extreme weather events becoming more frequent, and the Nilgiris being prone to landslips, flooding and other natural disasters demanding the intervention of the Fire and Rescue Services department, activists have called on the government to expand the services to the taluks of Kundha and Pandalur, which are serviced by fire stations anywhere from 20 to 30 km away.

According to local residents, the nearest fire station to Pandalur is in Gudalur, around 25 km away, while emergencies in Kundha have to be tended to by Fire and Rescue Services personnel in Coonoor, which is around 30 km away.

“This means that in case of an unexpected emergency, like a flash flood or a landslip, fire tenders take on an average, at least 45 minutes to reach Pandalur and Kundha taluks. This increases crucial response times and hampers many rescue efforts,” said S. Sivasubramaniam, general secretary of the Gudalur Consumer Human Resources and Environment Protection Centre.

Mr. Sivasubramaniam said that Pandalur was prone to forest fires during the summer, and during winters, people require rescues from their homes if there are floods. “With the threats posed by climate change increasing, we can expect more extreme weather events in the future in the region. The government should immediately install teams of Fire and Rescue Services personnel as well as fire tenders, firefighting equipment in the two taluks permanently to reduce the average response time,” he said.

Local residents said the average response time by the fire department now stood at 45 minutes to an hour. “Kundha and Pandalur also have a higher density of snakes due to warmer weather, leading to more calls for snake rescues,” said a resident from Manjoor.

The Fire and Rescue Services department is said to be understaffed, with around only 60 % of the total sanctioned strength of 104 personnel being filled. “The need for fire stations in all six taluks of the Nilgiris, and ensuring that all sanctioned posts within the department in the Nilgiris are filled should be top priority that will help minimise any casualties that may arise from any large calamities in the future,” said Mr. Sivasubramaniam.

When contacted, top officials from the Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Services Department said that requests to open fire stations in the two taluks have been raised for almost a decade, but that stations for the two taluks have yet to be sanctioned.