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ShareBangalore: The department of fire and emergency services, home guards and civil defence is in the process of making a proposal to the state government to acquire a HAZMAT (hazardous material) detecting vehicle. The governments of Gujarat and Delhi placed orders for such vehicles, which cost over Rs1 crore each, and must be imported from Germany. Gujarat and Delhi are still to receive the vehicles.
Jija Madhavan Hari Singh, director general of police, Karnataka state fire and emergency services, home guards and civil defence department, said, “We will send a proposal to the government to import the HAZMAT detecting vehicles from Germany. The vehicle contains all equipment needed to detect chemical contamination and enable decontamination. It would be useful in case of a terror strike, as also during disasters like fire incidents, especially if these happen in places where hazardous material are stored. Each vehicle costs more than Rs1 crore. We will have to think of the fund required. We are not equipped to deal with chemical warfare.”
There is also another proposal to the state government in the pipeline. The department hopes to augment the strength of the state’s home guards to 25,000. J Crasta, president of the Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FKCCI), had asked the DGP provide home guard personnel as security cover to industrial sites in Bangalore. Crasta said,
“Across the country, private installations too now get the cover of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).Industries in the city also require security. At present, we are dependent on private security agencies that provide us personnel with little training, and the services are expensive too. We would like the cover of the home guards, who could provide security first at the Peenya industrial area on a pilot basis, and then cover other areas like Bommasandra and Veerasandra. This can be done with the approval of the industry ministry.”
The DGP said that while the proposal is a sound one, there is need to place it formally before the state government. “Once the government sanctions this, we will deploy our forces depending on the requirement of each industry and the cost. Several unemployed youth join the home guards, and we would like to bring unemployment to zero.
This will also keep the youth from straying into illegal activity,” Jija Hari Singh said.
The DGP said all establishments employing more than 10 people should have areas for evacuation of people.
