New Delhi: With an aim to reach the spot
faster in case of a blaze, the Delhi Fire Service will be
deploying smaller fire response vehicles to negotiate narrow
lanes and heavy traffic in the national capital which saw over
22,000 fire incidents in 2010-11.
"10 small water tenders, one control cum BA van and
five fast response vechiles -- with water nist technology --
have been added to the fleet. The fast response vehicle, an
Innova fitted with necessary equipment like thermal imaging
cameras, water cylinders and small pumps would be vey helpful
in reaching the spots situated in narrow lanes," Delhi Fire
Serice Chief A K Sharma told reporters.
Delhi registered a total of 22,187 fire and rescue
calls in 2010-11, against 21,314 in 2009-10, he said, adding
in order to reduce response time, DFS has planned to have 70
fire stations in the national capital.
Presently, DFS has 53 stations and 17 more would be
coming up in the 11th five-year plan.
"At 10 sites, work is in final stages. They are likely
to become functional by the end of this year while work is in
progress at seven sites," Sharma said.
In order to man the new stations, the Delhi government
has sanctioned 842 new posts in the ranks of station officers,
sub officers, leading firemen and fire operators.
He said, a total of 1,242 posts of fire operators will
be filled shortly and Delhi Subordinate Services Selection
Board (DSSSB) has declared 401 persons as qualified and "we
expect the new batch of fire operators to join shortly".
Accepting that fire department was facing problem in
getting people, Sharma said, "one of our pre-requirment is
that the candidate should have a heavy motor vehicle driving
licence, which most of them don't have."
The fire department has issued show cause notices to
over 2,000 buildings for violating fire safety norms, of which
547 complied with the requirement while 748 high-rise
converted to low rise and "fire department has asked for
disconnection of water and electricity supply to 930 buildings
for not complying the norms," the DFS cheif said.
Terming Delhi Fire Service Act 2007 as 'Comprehensive
Act', he said this act help in dealing with buildings over 15
metres of height which was not available in previous act.
With threat of earthquake hitting the national capital
looms large, Sharma assured that the fire department was fully
equipped to carry out any type of search and rescue operations
in the event of any natural calamity.
"There is a need for capacity building and make the
people aware about dos and donts in the wake of disasters like
the recent earthquake in Japan," Sharma said.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, April 13, 2011, 21:07