10 December,2020 08:42 AM IST | Mumbai | Prajakta Kasale
The Mumbai Fire Brigade says it plans to procure 24 fire bikes in the next five to six months if the Centreu00c3u00a2u00c2u0080u00c2u0099s approval comes by this month-end. File pic
The fire brigade's plan to acquire fire bikes has been delayed by almost a year as it is waiting for permission from the Centre. While the fire authorities had floated a tender in March, which was followed by the pandemic, the approval from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways is yet to come.
Mumbai has huge fire engines and a 90-metre hydraulic ladder for sky-rises, but the fire brigade is keen to have mini fire stations and small fire engines to act quickly on blazes in narrow lanes and congested areas.
A fire bike can carry just about 40 litres of water, a pump and two firemen. While the quantity of water may seem inadequate, it can act as the first line defence. The fire department wants to get 24 such bikes, one for each of the civic wards.
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Some other cities in the country use fire bikes after getting them registered under the regular bike category. "Our other vehicles are registered under the firefighter category as per the Central Motor Vehicle Act. There wasn't any category like firefighting bikes before. So we made correspondence with the ministry and the process had been on till March. But due to the lockdown, the process got delayed and we are still waiting for permission," said a senior fire officer.
Under the firefighting category, taxes are waived. Fire officials are hopeful they will receive the permission by this month-end. After tendering, a proposal will be submitted to the BMC's standing committee following which a work order will be given. It will take another five to six months to procure the fire bikes, said the official.
According to fire officials, more than 80 per cent of fires start due to electric short circuits. The seemingly minor incident may spread and turn into a blaze till the firefighting equipment is brought to the spot. However, this takes time, particularly in a densely populated city like Mumbai with narrow bylanes.
"Conceptually, the bike will reach at least five to six minutes earlier and start the fire extinguishing operation. Though it has a small tank, it can be quickly filled up even with a bucket or a pipe and the pump will spray water to douse the fire, till a big fire engine arrives," said Rajendra Chaudhari, deputy chief fire officer. The pump attached to the fire bike can spray about 8 litres of water in a minute. Even if water is not available at the site of a fire, it can work for five minutes.
The fire brigade had displayed the bike on its annual day in 2016. It had sent a proposal to the standing committee last year, but it was referred back and the whole procedure had to be started again.
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