New fire tenders lying unused as older ones still in service

NEW DELHI: The Delhi Fire Service will not be able to buy any new vehicle unless it phases those already in service which are over 10-years-old, an official said on Thursday. 

The Delhi Fire Service (DFS) had bought 60 new vehicles in April this year, but these can be registered only after the department phases out the over 10-year-old automobiles, a senior Delhi Fire Service official said. 

“We will be filing a petition in the Supreme Court in a few days seeking permission for registration of new vehicles purchased in April this year,” he said.  

The fire department had approached the National Green Tribunal (NGT), seeking registration of its new vehicles, as the green panel had last year banned registration of new diesel vehicles as well as their re-registration after 10 years. 

“The fire department had purchased 60 new fire tenders in April and they are lying unused at the Fire Management Training Academy in Rohini,” the official said. 

The DFS officials claimed that the fire department at present had 220 diesel-run vehicles and it purchased 60 new diesel vehicles at a cost of Rs 14 crore. 

According to the National Green Tribunal, the fire department will have to file an affidavit before the green court that its department does not have any vehicle older than 10 years to get permission to register the new vehicles with the transport department.