Representatives of trade bodies have urged the Jalpaiguri district administration and the state fire services department to open fire stations in or near the industrial estates of the district by citing a recent blaze that gutted a detergent factory.

Surajit Paul, the general secretary of North BengalIndustries Association, said there are industrial estates in Raninagar, Dabgram and Belakoba, and several industrial units along Asian Highway II and NH27 between Siliguri and Jalpaiguri.

“Altogether, there are 1,000-odd units (micro, small and large) from the southern outskirts of Siliguri to Jalpaiguri town. There is, however, not a single fire station nearby. That is why, we have requested the fire services department and the administration to see that new fire stations are set up in strategic locations. Then, major damage in case of a blaze can be prevented,” Paul said.

He said that a few days back a fire broke out at a detergent factory in Amaidighi between Siliguri and Jalpaiguri.

“Fire engines reached the spot and doused the flames but the company had to bear a loss of over Rs 6 crore,” Paul said.

Representatives of the trade body said that along with existing industrial estates, a number of new private industrial parks and logistic hubs were under construction in the region.

Mohan Debnath, president of Dabgram Industries Owners’ Welfare Association, said that a number of private companies were making investments in industrial parks, particularly because the state reduced the ceiling of required land to five acres from 20 acres.

“To encourage industrial investment anywhere, fire stations, like power supply and road connectivity, are necessary,” he said.

Officials of West Bengal Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation — which runs the industrial estates —said that adequate space was not available in the estates for setting up fire stations.

“As a result, we have proposed that fire stations be setup near the industrial estates. Also, in Raninagar, we have developed a network of water supply from where any industrial unit can draw water to primarily control any blaze,” said an official.

Moumita Godara Basu, the Jalpaiguri district magistrate, said they had asked officials of the fire services department to submit proposals to the administration for the new fire stations.

“We have also inspected a plot of land at Fatapukur, which is in the middle of Siliguri and Jalpaiguri, for setting up a fire station there,” she said.