These fire-stations will be run by contractors who will be chosen through tenders. The buildings will be provided by the government. The contractor will staff the station with fire-fighters and administrative officials and buy vehicles and equipment. The staff will be trained at the Andhra Pradesh Fire & Emergency Services Training School. Fire department officials will oversee quality control and effectiveness; there will be fines for inefficiency.

Twelve such fire-stations are planned this year, and the first few will come up in Medak, Srikakulam, Visakhapatnam and Khammam districts, say officials.

“Against the recommended one fire station for 30,000 people, AP currently has one for every 3 lakh people,” says A K Khan, Director-General of Fire-Services. “It’s very, very difficult to recruit manpower and provide vehicles needed, keeping in mind budgetary and other constraints.” He hopes the private stations will offset the shortage. He said the decision to go private was taken two years ago and the pilot station at Kondapalli set up a year ago. It has responded to 50 emergencies.

Khan says private fire-stations are being set up “purely on an interim basis” but will continue to operate “till the department gains self-sufficiency.” “My feeling is that we will be dependent on them for quite some time.”

The reason is not difficult to see: he points out that 68 Assembly constituencies in the state don’t have even a single fire-station. Even Hyderabad has a shortage, although only of one station — it has 15 instead of the 16 it needs. Khan said the 16th might well be a private fire-station.

The department is yet to assess the effectiveness of the idea because the Kondapalli station is the only one in operation. “Unless we start a few more, we can’t judge,” says Khan.