Nagpur: In a big blow to former forest minister Sanjay Rathod, the state forest ministry has revised specifications of fire blowers which benefitted only one company while procuring them. The forest department purchases blowers worth Rs 70 lakh to Rs 1 crore annually in all the territorial and wildlife divisions.
At the insistence of the forest minister, on December 8, the state government granted permission to technical specifications for forest fire blowers. On December 18, APCCF (protection) issued orders to state officials to follow the same specifications while procuring fire blowers.
One of the conditions that the machine should have a blowing force of 38 newtons went in favour of only one company Husqvarna. Only Husqvarna blowers, which are two-stroke, fitted this condition. A complaint was also lodged with forest secretary Milind Mhaiskar on December 11 last year by other firms but as the orders were from the top, the complaints were not addressed.
On December 24, 2020, TOI reported how the specification order was flawed and surprising as this was for the first time the state specified standards for fire blowers. The same yardsticks were not followed while procuring vehicles, computers and peripherals, nursery equipment etc.
However, on March 25, 2021, the state forest ministry took note of the issue and changed the specification by removing the condition that the machine should have a blowing force of 38 newtons. APCCF (protection) Sanjeev Gaur has written to all the forest officials in the state about the fresh decision.
“It is a good move that will curb malpractices. Now other players in the field can also participate in the tendering process. Due to this stringent condition, even as we were part of the process. We did not qualify despite our product being four-stroke and less fuel consuming,” said one of the executives of Stihl, which supplies German-make fire blowers.
Another firm executive said, “Earlier there was no such condition by the forest department that flowing force should be 38 newtons. Till last year fire blower machines were procured for Rs 50,000 per piece. By changing the specification, the same blowers are now purchased for Rs 60,000, even as other firms have quoted a much low price. This is a waste of public money.”
Forest officials also admit that “The German-make machines Stihl though have a blowing force of 30 newtons, its velocity is 116 metres per second, which is more than the Husqvarna. While working in the field, velocity matters most than force and hence four-stroke machines are better placed than the two-stroke costly machines.”
A Stihl official told TOI, “We have been supplying machines with the flowing force of 30 newtons and all these machines are working successfully. In trials too, it has been found that our machines save 25-30% fuel. When four-stroke machines are available, why should two-stroke machines be considered for a higher cost? Two-stroke blowers will pollute more and also consume more fuel. These blowers have also become outdated.”