The construction of a six-storeyed building for the Tollygunge fire station started on Monday. The old building was pulled down earlier.
The building will have space on the ground floor for four big and one small fire tenders, said an official in the fire and emergency services department. There will also be a dedicated bay for motorcycles to be used by firefighters.
Small fire tenders carry 2,500 litres of water and the bigger ones 9,000 litres, fire and emergency services minister Sujit Bose said.
This fire station, which is located at Naktala, had started operations in 1968. The building housing the station was in a dilapidated condition and had to be pulled down.
For now, the fire station is operating out of shipping containers, which house the offices and quarters of the firemen, near the construction site. The fire tenders are parked in an adjacent lane.
The fire and emergency services department has commissioned the public works department to construct the new building.
Bose said the building will also have offices for the officer-in-charge of the fire station and other officers.
The building will have barracks for on-duty firemen and a recreation room for them. A small gymnasium will also be set up for the firefighters.
“We are building a fire station that will have infrastructure to support our fire-fighting teams. The building will also have barracks and recreation zones for the firemen,” said Bose.
“The area (Tollygunge) has several places that have narrow lanes and bylanes. It becomes difficult for our fire tenders to reach these areas quickly. The fire-fighting bikes will be able to respond to distress calls much faster. They will also have communication equipment like walkie-talkies.”
The project cost has been pegged at Rs 12 crore.
