The Mumbai Fire Brigade on Wednesday, March 2, tabled a proposal for the procurement of six new water tower vehicles to combat fire in congested and/or densely populated localities and old chawls.
These highly equipped combined fire engine vehicles can reach up to 18 metres (five to six floors).
Once the proposal is passed, the vehicles are expected to be delivered in 2-4 months.
In the civic body budget session 2022, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) decided to upgrade the infrastructure and capability of fire brigade, provision of ₹300 crores is proposed for Plant and Machinery and ₹65.54 crores for construction of fire stations.
This development came amid rising fire incidents in the city. Stating the cause of fire, a senior official said that due to a lot of wooden structures in slums, fire spreads rapidly and narrow lanes make it difficult for fire vehicles to reach. Water towers will be helpful as they can spray water from top even from a distance.
The BMC is going to spend INR 32.12 crores on the project.
At present, the fire brigade department has over 270 vehicles of which 11 fire engines will be phased out.
As per the proposal, there are 35 fire stations, 19 small fire stations and over 270 firefighting vehicles in the city. Among them, 11 fire engines have been in service since 2002-03. However, the executive engineer has also given a certificate to scrap these 11 fire engines.
Officials said these vehicles have been used in exceptional situations for the past 17 years and require frequent repairs; for some, spare parts are not available in the market, making them unviable for the department.
Moreover, for this, the fire department has estimated an expenditure of INR 29.62 crores. But, M/s High-tech services has won the bid but is ready to work for INR 32.12 crores.
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