Madurai: The firefighting and rescue service department is at a high warning in Tamil Nadu Selatan to prevent fire accidents during Diwali.
1,400 firefighters and officers at 83 fire stations in the south have been asked to be ready all the time.
Twenty-eight API tenders have been placed in places where the public gathers in large quantities for festival shopping, where fire accidents can occur.
They included nine places in Kanyakumari District, six in Virudhunagar Regency, four places in Madurai, three of each in Tirunelveli and Tuticorin Regency, two in Tenkasi and one in Theni.
The department official said they had received 809 applications to prepare a temporary cracker outlet which was 672 given no certificate of objection.
The remaining 137 was rejected due to lack of steps and safety violations.
Apart from the centralized Helpline number 101 and 112, the department has also shared a home office telephone number for the public for Dial in Emergency – Madurai: 0452-2335399, Theni: 04546-252699, Virudhunagar: 04562-243666, Ramanathapuram: 0467-221273, Sivagaai: 04575-2401, Tuticorin: 0461-2326501, Tirunelveli: 0462-2572099, Kanyakumari: 04652-276331 and Tenkasi: 04633-22166.