The fire department in Gurugram has a strength of at least 250 officers and firefighters, almost half the manpower required for the city, fire department officials told HT on Thursday.
According to officials, the department’s only hydraulic ladder which can reach up to a height of 42 metres, has been defunct at the DLF Sector 29 fire station for the last one and a half years, they said.
These facts come in light of the fire accident that happened in Palam, Delhi, on Wednesday where nine people lost their lives.
Fire department officials said they are currently relying on DLF which has a hydraulic platform reaching up to 90 metres. This ladder can reach up to the 23rd floor of a condominium if needed for rescue work in case of a fire.
A senior fire department official preferring not to be named, said the city needs a strength of 400 to 500 firefighters to meet the demand.
“Currently, we are working in eight-hour shifts, but from April 1 to May 31, we will all work in 12-hour shifts to deal with crisis situations during the summers as fire incidents rise exponentially,” he said.
Officials said that due to city expansion and an increase in residential societies over the last several years, they have been forced to switch to 12-hour shifts for two summer months because of manpower scarcity.
Gurugram presently has fire stations in Sector 29, Udyog Vihar, Bhim Nagar, Sector-37, Pataudi, Manesar and Sohna.
At least three more stations have been finalised for the city, expected to come up at Badshahpur, Sector-43 and Farrukh Nagar but land transfer is yet to take place, officials said.
“These fire stations may take more than a year to open. In case of a crisis, we rope in manpower and tenders from firms like Maruti, DLF, M3M, Ambience Mall management, Medanta Medicity and other major firms that collectively have at least 16 tenders and bowsers,” another official said.
Manpower and equipment from neighbouring districts like Faridabad and Rewari are also roped in when needed, they added.
On March 9 this year, a major fire broke out at an industrial scrapyard in Kankrola in Manesar; fire tenders were roped in from Honda and Maruti manufacturing plants besides others from Sector 37 and Sector 29 fire stations, officials said.
The city presently has 58 fire tenders of which six each are foam tenders and small tenders while at least 25 are water bowsers with a capacity to store more than 5000 litres of water. Besides, there are 10 motorcycles equipped with 40-litre water tanks to reach narrow lanes that cannot be accessed even by the small category tenders.
Officials said that more fire tenders will be added to the fleet once new stations are built.
When asked about the matter, Gulshan Kalra, joint director (technical), fire department, did not comment on the issues.
Jai Narayan, Sector 29 fire station officer, said that higher authorities are purchasing hydraulic ladders that can reach up to 90 metres and 120 metres.
“The existing defunct ladder is almost 10 years old and will remain unreliable even if repair work is carried out,” he said, adding that due to manpower shortage, firefighters have to work 12-hour shifts starting from April 1.