The Indian Express            22.11.2013

BMC ‘sitting’ on proposal for specialised systems to tackle fires in slum areas

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) continues to sit on a
proposal to acquire specialised fire engines that can easily combat
fires in slum networks.

In February, Municipal Commissioner Sitaram Kunte had directed
the Mumbai Fire Brigade to consult experts and devise a ‘Slum Fire
Prevention and Fire Fighting System comprising community awareness and
tailor-made machinery and methodologies for firefighting’ in these
areas.

The machinery he referred to calls for acquiring imported fire
engines that are capable of manoeuvering the narrow slum lanes with
hoses that use a stronger pressure for spraying a lesser amount of
water. “While normal fire engines use 2,250 liters of water per minute
with a pressure of seven kg for hosing down a blaze, the new engines
spray 40 litres per minute with a force of 100 kg,” a senior official of
the fire department said.

Although the Mumbai Fire Brigade claims it had drafted a tender
proposal for 16 of these fire engines, the file is stuck in bureaucracy.
“We prepared the tender three-four months ago and submitted it to the
competent authority. About four weeks ago, we even sent some
clarifications for the tenders,” the official said.

This is one example of the Fire Brigade’s poor spending of the
budget. In 2010-2011, the Fire Brigade was allotted Rs 83.11 crore for
acquiring new equipment, of which 23.94 per cent was utilised. This
decreased to about 10 per cent of the budget in 2011-2012 when Rs 68.30
crore was allocated. In 2012-2013, only 0.87 per cent of a budget of Rs
102 crore was utilised.

According to Additional Municipal Commissioner Manisha Mhaiskar,
the delay is on account of unavailability of Euro IV vehicles, which are
a must for tier-1 cities.

At the Ambedkar Nagar slum in Cuffe Parade, fire officials said
the task of putting out the blaze was extremely difficult because of the
poor accessibility for its trucks and fire engines through the narrow
alleys. “Our hoses and pipes, after bringing the vehicles as close to
the spot as possible, were at least half a km away from the fire. We
could not fight the fire from the ground as the distance was reducing
water pressure,” said Deputy Chief Fire Officer P S Rahangdale.

Community awareness in slums regarding fire safety is still on the Fire
Brigade’s drawing board. “There is a lot of combustible material in
slums. The materials used for constructing the kachcha houses are
flammable. We are trying to see what feasible alternatives are there for
slumdwellers and what training can be imparted to them,” the official
said.