India, Sept. 11 -- For a locality with a population of over 3,76,000, Versova could soon lose a planned fire station if a BMC proposal to delete the reservation and convert the land for residential use goes through.

Versova residents currently rely on the Irla and Goregaon fire stations, which are far away. Traffic congestion could further hamper the speed of fire services reaching the area. Despite this, the BMC has seen fit to propose opening up the land reserved for the fire station and a municipal police chowky for residential use.

The land, around 3,439 sq m in a Versova MHADA layout, has 2,296 sq m reserved for the chowky and 1,143.16 sq m for the fire station. Another 740.40 sq m of over 2,550 sq m of the adjoining police chowky ...