Mumbai: Soon, fire bikes to douse slum blazes

MUMBAI: The fire brigade will soon get bikes to fight blazes in slums and congested localities. It will buy 24 bikes for the purpose. The BMC will spend Rs 3.15 crore on the customised bikes, including their total maintenance cost.
A proposal to buy the fire bikes will be placed before the civic standing committee on Wednesday. The proposal was first mooted in January 2020 but was delayed due to the pandemic.
“The bikes alone will cost Rs 2.76 crore. We will spend an additional Rs 28.32 lakh on service and maintenance for five years. This cost will include assembling and commissioning the bike and its maintenance. Once the work order is issued, bikes will be inducted in two months. We will take another two months to assemble them,” said an official.
The official said fire bikes will be fitted with a water tank, a water pipe, a hose reel and a pump. The bikes will be fitted with tanks that can carry around 40 litres of water along with firefighting equipment. Officials said the bikes will be fired with a GPS device and the pump attached to the bike will be able to spray close to 8 litres of water in a minute. “Two firemen can ride the bike and can reach the spot before the team reaches with the big water tankers and fire engines and assess the situation and report back to the command centre,” the official said.