IN THE HIGH COURT OF HIMACHAL PRADESH SHIMLA CWP No.635 of 2001. Date of decision: 07.12.2010 ------------------------------------------------- Harnam Singh. Petitioner. Versus State of Himachal Pradesh & others. Respondents. Coram: The Hon’ble Mr. Justice Kurian Joseph, Chief Justice. The Hon’ble Mr. Justice V.K. Ahuja, J. For the petitioner: Mr.A.K.Vashisht,Advocate. For the respondent: Mr. R.K.Bawa, Advocate General with Mr. No.1 and 2. Ankush Dass Sood Addl. A.G. & Mr. J.K.Verma,Deputy Advocate General. For the Respondent : Mr. Ashok Thakur, Central Govt. No.3. Counsel. Justice Kurian Joseph,C.J.(Oral): The writ petition is filed with the following prayers: “(i) The respondents may very kindly be directed to make appropriate arrangements of fire-fighting equipments and staff in the Fire Stations in the State of H.P. (ii) The respondents may very kindly be directed to enforce and implement the recommendations of the Standing Fire Advisory Committee relating to the appointment of the Station Fire Officers in every Fire Station in the State of H.P. who fulfil the qualifications as stipulated in the recommendations of the Standing Fire Advisory Committee.” 2. The writ petition is, no doubt, filed in public interest. In Annexure-A, statement given by the Chief Fire Officer in May, 2008, it 2 is seen that there were 101 sanctioned fire vehicles, whereas only 78 vehicles were deployed, i.e. with deficiency of 23. It is also seen from the affidavit that there are several vacancies in the manpower deployed in the Fire Fighting Stations. The stand taken by the Government before this Court is that they were short of the required financial resources and Central assistance was needed. The Government of India has filed an affidavit on 21st June, 2010 wherein it is stated that under the 11th Finance Commission, the Planning Commission had allocated ` 200 crores for strengthening the fire and emergency services in the country and the share of Himachal Pradesh was ` 5.037 crores for setting up of 7 Advance Fire Tenders, 24 Combi Tools for rescue,24 High Pressure Pumps and 12 quick response vehicles. It is also stated that the Government had released ` 4.03 crores and the balance is State’s contribution. As far as the proposal of Himachal Pradesh Government for converting fire services into All Hazard/Emergency Response Units, it is stated thus in para No.6 of the affidavit: “That as far as proposal sent by the State of HP for providing funds for converting to Fire Services into All Hazard/Emergency Response Units are concerned, it is submitted that admittedly proposal for strengthening of Fire and emergency services in the State of HP was received by the Govt. of India but same could not be matured.” 3 3. It is seen from the affidavit filed by the Chief Fire Officer that the District Headquarter at Keylong (Lahul-Spiti) and 30 Sub Division Headquarters do not have fire stations. In the year 2008, an affidavit was filed that there was a proposal to set up at least six fire stations at the revenue sub- division headquarters in the far-flung areas. It is seen that such proposal has been made in terms of the population and distance and the economic activities carried on in the area. 4. In the above circumstances, this writ petition is disposed of as under: i) There will be a direction to the respondents to see that appropriate steps as per the advice tendered by the Standing Fire Advisory Committee/Council are promptly taken. ii) There will also be a direction to the respondents to take steps to set-up the new Fire Stations on priority basis at the places, namely, Joginder Nagar, Ghumarwin, Dalhousie, Dehra, Jawalmukhi, Nurpur and Amb-Chindpurani, as stated in the affidavit of the Chief Fire Officer, if not already done. The Committee shall assess the need for setting up further Stations at places where there are no Fire Stations and steps shall be taken in that regard by the Government in a phased manner. 4 iii) There will also be a direction to the first respondent to take appropriate steps to see that the employees deployed in the Fire Stations are duly trained personnel and also to see that no vacancy in the Fire Stations is kept un-filled and at any rate, the vacancy shall be filled up within a month. 5. With the above directions, the writ petition stands disposed of, so also the pending application(s), if any. Copy Dasti. (Justice Kurian Joseph) Chief Justice December 7, 2010 ( Justice V.K. Ahuja ), (SDS/krt) Judge