Blasts fail to rouse State govt

AHMEDABAD, Nov 7: The twin blasts in Odhav GIDC Estate last week have proved beyond doubt that the industrial zone is no less than a slee...

AHMEDABAD, Nov 7: The twin blasts in Odhav GIDC Estate last week have proved beyond doubt that the industrial zone is no less than a sleeping monster. The potential for disaster was always there, but in what has become an oft-repeated scenario, the warnings were ignored. Any passerby on the Narol-Naroda Highway will testify to the odious fumes that greet one, especially after midnight.

The burning sensation in the eyes is not easy to ignore as there are around 200 big and small units spewing toxic fumes. 8220;Forget about us, even visitors cannot keep their eyes open due to pollution, while the officials concerned look the other way and visit the area only to have their palms greased,8221; a security guard in the estate said.

Despite the fire station set up in Odhav by the civic authorities three years ago, the area is grossly ill-equipped to deal with any crisis. Though a staff of 60 personnel has been sanctioned, about 50 per cent of the positions continue to lie vacant as employees from other fire stations in the city are unwilling to go there. The post of station officer has been lying unoccupied since the day the fire station was set up. Even those transferred here have not moved, citing waterlogging of upto two feet for days on end. This renders the ground floor staff quarters, including the quarters of station officer, unfit for occupation, they say.

A fire station in Odhav GIDC should, in fact, provide an opportunity to deal with safety challenges if all the tall talk on disaster management is to have any meaning at all. But shortage of equipment and lack of manpower are proving a handicap. On the other hand, there are fire stations which have more than one senior officer. Deputy Municipal Commissioner A R Bhatt said the process of recruiting a station officer for Odhav was on.

Chief fire officer D A Gadhvi, however, denied that there was a staff crunch or lack of adequate equipment. He admitted the post of station officer had been lying vacant, but said the divisional officer could discharge the functions of a station officer in his absence. He complained that the Fire Brigade got adverse publicity over petty issues, while there was no appreciation in deserving cases. 8220;Our job is to control disaster after it happens, while taking precautionary steps is the job of other Government agencies. Why make a whipping boy of the Fire Brigade?8221;, he quipped.