The Hindu : Kerala News : Stretched to their limits

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jun 27, 2007
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Kerala

Kerala

Stretched to their limits

June 22, the day the southwest monsoon vented its fury on Kozhikode city and the suburbs, was a busy day for the personnel of Kozhikode Beach Fire Station.

The fire station is one of the few in the Malabar area to have an Emergency Tender vehicle, complete with state-of-the-art equipment such as hydraulic-operated devices, chain saw, and air pillows to extricate people trapped under vehicles or in other places during natural and man-made disasters. The prescribed staff strength here is 26, but only 16 are available.

On the day, the station received at least 30 calls. “But we could attend to only nine, with just six personnel on duty at the time. We were selective based on the gravity of the situation, and there was danger to life. We could assist the public to the best of our ability, including putting out a fire at S.M. Street and removing a body from a well at Palazhi.”

A majority of the calls were for removing trees that had fallen on roads and houses. The operations extended late into the night. Early next morning, the station received yet another emergency call – for removing a huge tree that had fallen on the Tirur-Tannur road, 45 km away.

MALEEHA RAGHAVIAH

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