India needs better fire protection services

By Prem P. Batra, The massive oil depot fire that raged for days in Jaipur has dramatically but tragically illuminated the woefully inadequate fire service infrastructure in India. While conceding that the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) depot fire in Jaipur was colossal by any standard, the routine fire accidents that occur on a daily basis reveal the institutional flaws in the entire fire protection capacity at a national level.

For example, Diwali this year, like previous years, brought with it numerous reports of casualties in the burns wards across Delhi. Nearly 250 small fires occurred but hardly raised any public outcry.

Being an issue evoking a non-committal response from society and the state in particular, fire protection has bred over the years a state of apathy among most Indians. The increasingly deplorable conditions under which the Fire Services (FS) of the country struggle to render a sustained modicum of minimum service today are stark but invisible.

Thus the Oct 23 cabinet clearance of "a scheme of the Ministry of Home Affairs for strengthening of fire and emergency services to be implemented at an estimated cost of Rs.200 crore during the remaining period of the Eleventh Five Year Plan" is a much-delayed but welcome initiative.

Within this scheme, fundamental issues like protection of life and property clearly need to be addressed. Recognising fire protection as a fundamental right would benefit every citizen.

The fire services continue to be governed by the rather obsolete system set in place by the British Raj. The FS must be elevated to the Concurrent List from the State List and recognised at par with centrally administered service like the other allied services.

At the state level, ground level instruction for firemen should adhere to an all-India standard, imparted partly in vernacular languages. Another category of training, with adequate monetary incentives, could be implemented for the locals in smaller habitats. Specialised institutes offering higher content structure for officers could fall within the purview of the individual states.

All-India institutes for higher training in accordance with national and international fire standards, perhaps affiliated to a university, would necessarily have to be a concern of the centre. Promotions to the ranks of chief fire officer, director and adviser both at the centre and in the states may be subject to qualifying in the advanced courses, for which adequate vacancies would also have to be added.

With India aiming to be among the ranks of developed nations by 2020, heavy investment in R&D and the establishment of test laboratories conforming to national and international fire standards are a pre-requisite. Simultaneously, the insurance rules for fire protection for life, property, crops, manufacturing facilities and other assets clearly need to be instituted, as insurance remains a key multiplier for all related activities -- thereby enabling them to become self-sustaining and reducing dependence on the government.

Critical equipment for manufacture of firefighting implements and tools forms one of the key imports. Some are manufactured indigenously but, with FS being technology-intensive like the navy, it would be ideal if the route adopted is as per the experience of the navy.

Massive funds are spent in imports without the benefit of reductions arising from bulk purchase, or without the benefit of the standard offset clause when awarding contracts. With central and state requirements clubbed together, it would become viable for big Indian corporations to venture into manufacturing sophisticated fire equipment in India with the additional advantage of in-house research as well as generating additional employment.

Setting up of world class test laboratories and centres of excellence in R&D is a rather formidable task for which sustainable collaboration with technical institutes and universities is a must. The education level of fire officers would have to be sufficiently raised so that given considerable experience, they can be posted to the centres. Initial funding would have to be borne by the central government with major manufacturing companies being enticed to participate as equity holders in due course of time in which the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) could emerge as a potential Leader.

A fraction of the budgeted plan could be diverted towards the constitution of an exclusive Fire Services Commission on the lines of the Police Commission, headed by a powerful public figure and vested with the authority to lay down the road map to finance it whilst concurrently strengthening fire and emergency services. The commission would be inclusive of representatives of FS, IAS, IPS, defence forces, armed police forces, the Home Guards and stakeholders like the Planning Commission, CSIR, Ministry of Finance, insurance regulator, the business chambers and the media. A core team may initially have to evolve terms of reference, quantify the scattered expenditures incurred by various states, the public and private sector players and suggest appropriate funding measures.

India's home secretary recently stated at a business seminar that $6 billion has been earmarked for strengthening homeland security. With homeland security thus engaging national attention in such a major way, fire protection can and must be developed as a key integral component of this much-needed but largely ignored national effort. The next big fire as in Jaipur and the Diwali of 2010 must see India better prepared.

--IANS