Guwahati, April 18: Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal today said as many as 42 fire and emergency service (F&ES) stations have been sanctioned by the government.

"Our government has sanctioned 42 F&ES stations this year. The state government has made a budget provision of Rs 58 crore to construct and complete 19 of those stations immediately and they will be completed by the end of this financial year itself. In the coming days, Assam will have more fire stations than some of the bigger states in the country and the services will be fully equipped to handle any exigencies," Sonowal said during the Fire Services Week, a seven-day fire awareness campaign, held on the 4th Assam Police Battalion campus in Kahilipara today.

The first fire station in the state was set up in Silchar in 1956. Assam currently has 133 fire stations manned by 2,356 personnel. A source in the F&ES department said fire service personnel had attended to 2,946 calls and saved properties worth Rs 291 crore in Assam in 2016-2017.

Lauding the efforts of the firemen, Sonowal said, "The fire servicemen have set an example of selfless service to society and saved countless lives and property by dedicatedly performing their duty at great risk to their lives and the government is committed to providing them with all facilities."

"The state fire and emergency services has undergone great transformation both in organisational and technical capabilities. At present, it has 124 sanctioned and six ad-hoc F&ES stations," Sonowal said.

Sonowal also lauded the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) for rescuing 6,583 people and 47 animals from disasters last year.