Accompanied by R. Rampradeepan, District Revenue Officer (DRO), Minister for Public Works and Highways E.V. Velu inaugurated the new facility.
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
A new permanent fire and rescue station for Arunachaleswara temple in Tiruvannamalai town was inaugurated on Sunday to attend to any emergencies inside temple premises and Mada streets around it.
Officials of the Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Services (TNFRS) said that Arunachaleswara temple is the second temple in the State after Sri Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple in Madurai to get a dedicated fire and rescue station to attend to fire accidents within temple premises.
“The facility has been functioning as an outpost near the temple since it was formed in 2019. Now, it will have a dedicated team of firefighters and equipment for temple requirements,” S. Saravanan, Assistant District Fire Officer (ADFO), Tiruvannamalai, told The Hindu.
TNFRS officials said that it was a fire accident that gutted over 30 shops along the East Tower side of the Sri Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple in Madurai in February 2018 that mooted the idea of setting up fire and rescue stations meant exclusively for historical temples in the State.
As part of the initiative, Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, through video conference, inaugurated a new permanent building for the Fire and Rescue Services station near Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple in Madurai in October 2024. Following it, Arunachaleswara temple has become the second temple to get the facility.
Accompanied by R. Rampradeepan, District Revenue Officer (DRO), Minister for Public Works and Highways E.V. Velu inaugurated the new facility.
Divided into officers’ quarters and fire station, the new permanent fire station is located on a piece of land that belongs to HR&CE with a large training ground for its 17 staff by the Tamil Nadu Police Housing Corporation Limited (TNPHCL). It comprises rooms for leading firemen, mechanics, and fire fighters. Two large overhead tanks (OHT) on its terrace each have a capacity of 50,000 litres of water. The new facility also has a 40-feet-deep farmwell to pump water to these tanks.
TNFRS officials said that the new fire station will primarily focus on the temple and its surrounding stretches whereas the rest of the Corporation area will be covered by the Town fire and rescue service station functioning at Collectorate.
Published – October 12, 2025 11:56 pm IST
