News: After 7-year wait, Gurugram fire department gets eight new tenders, fleet now 32-01-04-2022
After a gap of nearly seven years, the district fire department in Gurugram got a boost as it received eight new fire tenders from the Haryana directorate of fire services on Thursday, taking its current fleet of 24 fire tenders to 32
The Gurugram fire department comes under the ambit of the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG). Mayor Madhu Azad inaugurated the eight vehicles at the Sector 29 fire station on Thursday.
“Of the eight new tenders, five are water tenders, and three small tenders. The five water tenders have been distributed among the fire stations in Pataudi, Udyog Vihar, Bhim Nagar, Sector 29 and Sector 37 while the fire stations in Sector 29, Sohna and Manesar received one small tender each,” said Gulshan Kalra, deputy director (technical), Haryana Fire Services.
“For now, the 32 vehicles will help reduce the deficit of fire tenders in Gurugram. The fire department has a requirement for more tenders, especially for covering areas in the new sectors near Dwarka Expressway, Southern Peripheral Road, and Sohna Road, some of which are around 10-15km away from the nearest fire station. We have already sent a proposal to the Haryana government for procurement of more fire vehicles,” said Kalra.
The fire department has been operating only 24 fire tenders for the last six months, covering all the areas in Gurugram, Manesar, Pataudi, and Sohna, said officials.
Last year, the department auctioned 10 defunct fire tenders. Due to shortage of equipment, the fire department has been relying on the fire tenders of private companies and the Indian Air Force (IAF) for the past few years.
For instance, in April last year, a fire broke out in a hardware store, and at an adjoining plywood store, in Sadar Bazar. The fire was so massive that the 25 fire tenders of the Gurugram fire department were unable to control the blaze and the fire officials had to ask for tenders from DLF, Honda, Maruti, and IAF to help douse the fire, which took over nine hours to extinguish.
“Until a fire station or a temporary shed is made, we can place the fire tenders in the new sectors on a temporary basis for not more than 3-4 hours at a time as it degrades the quality of the vehicles. Besides asking for more fire tenders, there are plans to construct a new fire station in Sector 92 as well as the tendering process for reconstructing the fire station at Sector 37 is underway, which together will help improve coverage in the new sectors,” said Kalra. Sectors 58-115 are considered as the new sectors in Gurugram.
A retired official of the Haryana Fire Services, who headed the operations for the Gurugram fire department for more than 15 years, said, “Gurugram district is now developed and urbanised... Given the population density as well as the area of coverage, the district needs at least 50 fire tenders as well as six huge water bowsers with a capacity of 25,000 litres each to douse major fires. Otherwise, the dependency on private companies will continue.”
The last time the fire department added new fire tenders to its fleet was in September 2015, when seven fire tenders were supplied by the Haryana Urban Local Bodies (ULB).
