Responding to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report on the state of fire brigades in municipal corporations, Mumbai Fire Brigade Chief P.S. Rahangdale on Thursday said his team is well equipped. He also said the report is an old one and much has changed since then.
The PAC report was submitted on the last day of the Assembly’s Budget session. It recommended stringent rules and regulations for giving permission to skyscrapers as fire brigades in municipal corporations still lack the tools to reach the topmost floor.
“Firefighting does not depend on external ladders. Most times, it has to be done internally, with the building’s firefighting equipment. That is the logical response to a fire, not a ladder. We have ladders going up to 90 metres but they should not be compared with height of buildings,” Mr. Rahangdale said. “We keep ladders for slum rehabilitation buildings, those without firefighting equipment,”he said.
When asked about the recommendation for adequate number of fire stations, He said new fire stations require planning, he said. “We are coming up with at least 25 new fire stations. Besides, we have built 17 mini fire stations within 1.5 years,” he said
Fire brigade sources said norms for issuing NOC to commercial establishments have changed, and it only gives compliance certificates now.
On capital outlay, Mr. Rahangdale pointed out that since most of the equipment is customised, it may be delivered in the next fiscal year, due to which capital budget gets spilled over to next year. “But spending has increased a lot,” he said.
He listed Mumbai Fire Brigade’s integrated command and control room, phasing out old vehicles, bringing in a Hazmat vehicle, drones, robots, foam tenders as attempts to modernise the brigade.