Nagpur: The forest department’s move to change technical specifications for purchase of forest fire blowers has raised eyebrows as it will eliminate competition and make only one company eligible for supplying the machines.
On December 8, the state government approved technical specifications for forest fire blowers, based on which APCCF (protection) Sanjeev Gaur issued orders on December 18 to follow the same specifications while procuring the machines. Every year, forest department procures at least 1,500 to 2,000 blowers.
Forest sources said, “This is for the first time, state has specified standards for fire blowers. However, the same yardstick is not applied while procuring vehicles, computers and peripherals, nursery equipment, etc.”
After talking to several officials, TOI learnt that for the last 8-10 years, the department is using German four-stroke (four-mix) BR-600 model fire blowers supplied by Stihl company costing Rs49,000 a unit.
There are no complaints as such with these blowers. Yet, new specifications have been issued by a committee of forest officials set up at the insistence of forest minister Sanjay Rathod, say sources. The new specifications are such that only one company — Husqvarna — will benefit and no other blowers by other manufacturers will fit into the criteria.
In a complaint to Milind Mhaiskar, principal secretary (forest), on December 11, Stihl officials have pointed out that the circular on fire blower specification by the ministry is one-sided and will benefit only one company. The company has demanded fair competition.
“One of the conditions that will apparently benefit Husqvarna is that the machine should have a blowing force of 38 newton and above. Only Husqvarna blowers, which use two-stroke engine, fit into this condition,” says the complaint.
Forest officials admitted that the German-make machines though have a blowing force of 30 newton, its velocity is 116 metres per second, which is more than the Husqvarna units. While working in the field, velocity matters most than force, and hence four-stroke machines are better placed. The two-stroke fire blower would cost Rs65,000 as against the four-stroke one costing Rs49,000.”
Stihl officials told TOI, “We have been supplying these machines having a flowing force of above 30 newtons and all these are working successfully. In trials too, it has been found that our machines save 25-30% fuel. When four-stroke machines are available, why two-stroke machines should be considered for a higher cost? Two-stroke blowers will cause more pollution and will also consume more fuel. Two-stroke technology has already become outdated.”
On March 13, 2020, the minister had called a meeting at his residence to discuss the issue after which a 12-member committee, under head of forest force (HoFF), was set up. It comprised 3 APCCFs, 4 CCFs, and directors of National Fire College, Nagpur, & Maharashtra Fire Services.
The panel was to study blowers available in the market to finalize specifications. The committee found that no other states like Goa, Telangana, Karnataka, MP and Chhattisgarh have fixed any specification on the use of fire blowers and DFOs procure these blowers at the local level. The committee submitted its report in June/July.
State forest minister Rathod said, “Initially, only Stihl was supplying the blowers. There were complaints from rival foreign companies like Husqvarna and Makita. We found fire blowers were purchased as per the will of field officers without any specifications. Hence, we formed a panel to finalize specification and conditions, which we submitted to the government and got it approved. Now, we have included both two-stroke and four-stroke machines.”