Hyderabad lacks efficient fire fighting network. Should policy makers wait for a major disaster to initiate changes?

1. HYDERABAD HANS Lifestyle Art & Culture WEDNESDAY 05 October 2011 Guide Celebrations
Training for
Playing with fire thematic maps based on Ge-
CS students
T
ographical Information Sys- o widen the scope of practical experience of the Com-
tem (GIS), Digital Elevation pany Secretary students and equipping them with the re-
Model (DEM), Nearest quired practical experience in other spheres of the
neighbourhood analysis, business sector, the Council of the Institute of Company Secre-
Theissian polygon method taries of India (ICSI) has approved inclusion of six months
and Beta and Gamma indices training at various Financial Institutions, Consultancy and Law
for road network analysis. Firms. Students would undergo six months of practical training
The study takes into ac- as part of their 15 months training in Company Secretary
count different amenities pro- Course. According to Mr. N K Jain, Secretary and CEO, ICSI,
vided by the government as stated that the Company Secretary students were required to
well as private bodies for as- undergo 15 month Pre- Membership/Management training
sessing their ‘catchment’ after passing the Executive Programme or Professional Pro-
areas, spacing, thresholds, gramme of the Company Secretaries Course Course. Mr N.K
and the lacunae in their sup- Jain opines that, with the growth in industrial sector, the Role
ply. Most of the amenities of Company Secretaries is becoming increasingly important and
and facilities in the city ex- Company Secretaries would be playing a vital role in corporate
hibit a pattern of clustering. restructuring, cross border insolvencies, mergers and amalga-
Clustering may be fine in mations, international tax planning and arbitration and dispute
some cases, say post offices, resolution, indirect taxation and a host of other avenues in the
where despite clustering the corporate ladder. ICSI imparts practical training at various com-
distance one has to travel to Map of Hyderabad shows existing fire stations panies to apprise the CS Students with the functioning of the
avail of this service is about Corporate Sector and to create a cadre of professional CSs.
0.5 km. However, in other (red colour) and suggested fire stations are
cases, say the service of fire marked green.
station, it is in the range of
1.5 km to 6 km, which is pro- its vicinity. It may be noted part of the city and in the
HYDERABAD IS GROWING RAPIDLY IN TERMS 2.5 km as per international hibitive in terms of acquisi- that there are two mutual southern part of the city. It
OF POPULATION AND AREA. ITS TRANSITION standards, whereas in the city tion; and, as it is an cases in South Hyderabad was found that this gross in-
it takes 15 to 20 minutes to emergency service, it can where the fire stations are adequacy of fire extinguish-
FROM A HERITAGE CITY TO AN IT HUB IS reach the accident spot or the prove to be too late a realisa- within 2,500 metres of each ing services was more
fire engine travels 5 to 8 km.” tion in terms of the time dis- other, the rest of them spaced pronounced in the densely
AMAZING, BUT UNPLANNED URBANISATION This is one of the reasons tance. far away to maximum of 6 populated central part and
HAS LEFT THE CITY BURSTING AT THE why fire engines reach the The researcher, therefore, km! the southern part. This calls
spot invariably after the loss suggests alternative locations A map based on Theissian for palliative measures so as
SEAMS. ITS CIVIC AMENITIES HAVE BEEN of lives and property, like in for fire services. The popula- polygon method suggests that to fill the gaps in the existing
STRETCHED SO MUCH THAT EVEN WITH filmi scenes where cops ap- tion served by each of the fire stations on the periphery levels of fire service.
pear only after a lot of thod- services has been studied and of the city have the lowest With this in view, a map
REGARD TO SOMETHING AS IMPORTANT pod. inferences drawn which can number of persons being was prepared in which, apart
It is interesting to note that be of help to policy makers in served. They cater to popula- from existing fire stations, al-
AS RESPONSIVENESS TO FIRE MISHAP it takes half an hour to bring providing optimal utilization tion ranging from 2, 14,000 ternative locations of fire sta-
THE AUTHORITIES SEEM TO BE out a fire engine from the of the services. to 3, 00,000 persons. tions were suggested. For
Moghulpura Fire Station and Fire stations are located al- The Malakpet fire station this, the existing road net-
PLAYING WITH FIRE another half an hour is lost most on the periphery of the in the western part of the city work in the city was taken as
due to traffic snarls. city, barring a few in South serves the highest population the backdrop against which,
VENU K KODIMELA and hospitals (government, Dr Ali suggests that 18 Hyderabad, where they are of 5 lakh to 6 lakh. Most of two kilometer buffer zones
private and corporate) -- more fire stations should be located in relatively central the city areas have a ratio of around the existing and sug-
I n his doctoral study, Dr
Mohammed Akhter Ali,
assistant professor in the Ge-
found the situation with re-
gard to fire stations alarming.
In an exclusive interview
started to meet the immedi-
ate requirements of the city,
which is growing vertically
locations. The first impres-
sion from the city map is that
of inadequacy of this service,
one fire station to 2 lakh to 4
lakh population.
The study found that al-
gested fire stations were
drawn based on the distance
along and around the main
ography Department of Os- to The Hans India correspon- and horizontally. keeping in view the present most all parts of the city are roads radiating out from the
mania University, who dent, Dr Ali said: “A fire His study was based on and potential needs. underserviced as far as the fa- fire stations.
focused on six amenities --- brigade should reach an acci- gathering of primary data Shockingly, fire services cility of fire station is con- This exercise was intended
police stations, post offices, dent spot within 5 minutes or through questionnaires, map- are missing in the central cerned. These areas lie most with two motives; one, to
fire stations, schools, colleges, it should travel a distance of ping techniques like Isolines, business district (CBD) and prominently in the central (Continued on P-II)
Inside
Bathukamma of
yesteryear
Ensuring standards
Page II
Children told to love
birds, animals Page III
in hospitals
MAHESH AVADHUTHA
Making news
literally
Page IV I f you visit KIMS hospital in Se-
cunderabad, Star Hospital in Ban-
jara Hills or the LV Prasad Eye
Institute in Jubilee Hills, you will
find copies of “NABH certificate”
HANS TUNES prominently displayed on the prem-
ises of the hospital.
Samudrala So, what is the NABH certificate
about? Why do hospitals hanker
after it?
The National Accreditation
Board for Hospitals & Healthcare
Providers (NABH) is a constituent
board of the Quality Council of
India, set up to establish and operate
accreditation programme for health-
care organizations. A copy off NABH certificate
The certificate provided upon ac-
creditation of NABH distinguishes NABH certificate. High medical quality-conscious hospital should
a hospital in terms of quality. standards are the need of the hour. define all such activities internally,
NABH accreditation makes it ex- Unfortunately, in many hospitals document the same, and impart nec-
tremely easy for patients to go for not much emphasis is laid on stan- essary training to the staff. These
hospitals with doctors who are dards. Besides having good infra- documented activities include de-
abreast of advances in medicine, structure, it is important for tailed job responsibilities, work in-
who consistently follow care path- hospitals to follow documented structions, checklists and quality
ways, and who work with validated processes for its healthcare services. indicators for the staff to follow.
guidelines. Patient care goes beyond just clinical How will the patient know about
Only in the case of an emergency areas. these processes? How can patients
you decide to go to a nearby hospi- Support activities such as test, know the details? Where are these
tal. But, when you have time, you medicines, nursing care, infection details available? Do they enquire
will opt for a good hospital and a control practices, training and many with the hospital? Patients and their
rule of thumb is to go for one with more such things count a lot. A Continued on P-II