Jhenidah fire station lying idle for 11 months since inauguration

Maheshpur Fire Service Station in the district is lying inoperative since its inauguration in December last year as the authorities are yet to recruit manpower for running the station meant for providing service in the upazila with two lakh people.

The desolate station turns into a hub of drug addicts at night, said locals.

Construction of the station was completed in October last year at a cost of Tk 95 lakh.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal inaugurated it in December when a fire truck, a rescue pick-up, and two water pumps arrived, Rafiqul Islam,  sub-assistant director at Jhenidah Fire Service and Civil Defence, said.

“The valuable equipment and vehicles are lying unused and those cannot be maintained properly due to lack of manpower. I have requested the high-ups to appoint manpower to run the station,” Rafiqul said, adding that the Ministry of Home Affairs is responsible for the supervision of the station.

The station is on 33 decimals of land at Jalilpur village, about three kilometres from Maheshpur upazila headquarters, but locals have to call Kotchandpur upazila fire service for help when there is a fire incident.

“After the station was launched in December last year, my shop at Maheshpur upazila headquarters caught fire. There was a lot of damage by the time the fire vehicles arrived from Kotchandpur to put out the flames,” said Anwar Hossain, a local trader.

Contacted, contractor Monjur Parvez said although he completed the construction in time, the authorities are yet to take over the station and give him dues.

According to the statistics of Jhenidah Fire Service and Civil Defence, in Maheshpur, 21 fire incidents and 22 road accidents took place in 2016; 25 fires and 11 road accidents in 2017; and 14 fires and 11 road accidents took place till the first week of November this year.

Kotchandpur upazila fire service had to deal with the incidents.