The Delhi Fire Service has formed an internal committee headed by the Chief Fire Officer to identify 50 mishap-prone spots in the national capital where mobile fire tenders can be deployed. It will also come up with locations where new fire stations could be set up, an official said on Sunday. The development comes days after Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena suggested a slew of measures to improve the national capital’s fire-fighting capability during a meeting with the Delhi Fire Service to review preparedness ahead of Diwali.
Atul Garg, the Director of Delhi Fire Service, said that the LG has directed to increase the number of fire tenders. Presently, the number is 220, and the target is to have at least 350 fire tenders in the national capital. The LG has also directed the opening of more fire stations. Right now, the fire department has 64 fire stations and the target is to take it to 80.
“Based on the LG’s directions, we have already started our work. An internal committee headed by the Chief Fire Officers has been formed. Other senior officers are also part of the committee. “The purpose of the committee will be to locate the 50 points prone to mishaps where mobile tenders are required to be deployed in the city. It will also ascertain and analyse the locations where new fire stations are required,” the Director said. Once the locations are finalised, the fire department will approach the Delhi government for the sanctioning of land for setting up the new fire stations as well as for the financial approval to purchase mobile fire tendershicles, he said.
The Director has asked the committee to submit the report within a week, he added. “The locations for deployment of mobile fire tenders and land for the creation of new fire stations would be decided based on the hazards involved in those areas, locations of present fire stations, congestion and narrow lanes and traffic time. “These are among the common parameters that are to be taken into consideration for selecting and finalising the land and locations,” Garg said.
The department said it does not have any mobile fire tender vehicles available currently and these will be purchased once the locations have been decided. Saxena has also directed Delhi Fire Services to bring down the response time for rescue calls to 2-3 minutes from the current 8-16 minutes. He asked officials to identify at least 50 locations prone to mishaps and deploy fire tenders, integrating them with ambulance services for quick response.
Citing an example, the Director said that a place like Radha Swami Bhati mines does not have a fire station in the area and if an incident occurs, the nearest fire station would be approximately 40 kilometers away. So such locations must be considered based on the hazard involved. Places like Chandi Chowk and Sadar Bazar, which may have fire stations nearby but due to congested and narrow lanes fire tenders take time to reach, in such areas a mobile fire tender could, like a PCR van, reach within the shortest time.
Referring to the recent major fire incident in Gandhi Nagar Market in which one person was killed, the officer said that the lanes were so narrow and congested that it took time for fire tenders to reach the area. Even after reaching the site, the vehicles had to be parked at a distance and fire hoses had to be used to douse the blaze The purpose of the deployment of mobile fire tenders is that if a fire is tackled within two-three minutes from the time it starts, it will not spread.
“With the deployment of mobile tenders in congested areas like Chandni Chowk or Sadar Bazar, any fire could be tackled in the initial stage itself and can be controlled much faster. “This will help in reducing the number of fire incidents and also the loss will be very minimal,” he said.
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