THE Mumbai Fire Brigade will soon be procuring a 55-metre water tower vehicle to make it easier to reach areas located in dense, narrow lanes. As per fire brigade’s proposal, the tower will help them reach an area that is 50-metres long. The cost of the water tower vehicle is Rs 12.39 crore.
In the last few years, the fire brigade has bought upgraded fire dousing equipment such as fire fighting robot and Hazmat vans. Now, the fire brigade will be adding a water tower vehicle to its arsenal.This will help while handling blazes in tall buildings on narrow roads, and in sprawling chawls where access is difficult. Most of the fires turn into major incidents as fire engineers can’t reach the spot because of narrow lanes, double parking on the roads or due to huge slum pockets. Mumbai will be the only fire brigade in the country to have such a vehicle.
“Around 48 per cent of Mumbai’s 1.24 crore population lives in slums. There are huge slum areas like Behrampada, Bandra’s Garib Nagar, Dharavi and Vikhroli Parksite. Even when there are fires in high-rises, the fire brigade can’t reach owing to the narrow approach roads. Densely populated areas like Bhendi Bazaar, Kalbadevi and Bhuleshwar also pose a challenge,” said an officer from the fire brigade.
