New Delhi, Sep 17 (PTI) The Delhi Fire Service on Wednesday deployed 24 Quick Response Vehicles (QRVs) worth Rs 8.61 crore, flagged off by Home Minister Amit Shah, on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s birthday, to tackle fire incidents in congested and high-risk areas across the city, officials said. The authority has identified 24 locations where the frequency of fire incidents is high and where accessibility for large fire tenders is limited. These include Hastal Village in Janakpuri, Vishal Garden in Najafgarh, Vikaspuri, Mehrauli, IGNOU Maidan Garhi, Ghitorni Metro Station, Badli Industrial Area, Sant Nagar in Burari, Lajpat Nagar Market, Sonia Vihar, Gandhi Nagar, Paharganj Main Bazaar, Bawana, Rani Bagh Market, Palam Gol Chakkar in Dwarka and Guru Gobind Singh Government Hospital in Raghubir Nagar, among others. Under this new initiative, the DFS has fitted compact XL6 vehicles with an advanced Ultra High-Pressure Pump Extinguishing System and other modern technologies to strengthen its response to urban emergencies, an official statement said. The government has provided funds for the project in three phases. For the first phase, 24 QRVs have been procured for Rs 8.61 crore, including both the vehicles and the specialised firefighting equipment, it said. Each XL6 vehicle costs Rs 11.05 lakh, while each ultra high-pressure pump system costs Rs 24.8 lakh, the statement added. The total expenditure includes Rs 2.65 crore for the vehicles and Rs 5.95 crore for the pumps.
In the second phase, a tender for the procurement of 26 Maruti XL6 vehicles was placed on the Government e-Marketplace on August 21. The pumps will be purchased after delivery of the vehicles, the statement said. A proposal for deploying 50 more QRVs has also been prepared under Phase 3. In the initial rollout, the QRVs will be staffed by existing DFS personnel, while in the second phase, it is planned to outsource manpower, it added. Delhi is among the most densely populated cities in the world, and the fire service faces “significant challenges in providing timely and effective service, largely due to the city’s high population density and traffic congestion,” according to the statement. Traffic congestion is cited as the “biggest challenge,” with officials pointing out that heavy traffic, particularly during peak hours, delays fire tenders from reaching incident sites. Older and congested areas, especially slums, make it even more difficult for large vehicles to navigate, it said. These challenges often lead to increased response time and small fires escalating into large blazes requiring more personnel and equipment, thereby raising the risk of significant damage and loss of life, the note added. Highlighting the advantages of the new system, it stated that the compact vehicles are designed to ensure “maximum efficiency and versatility” as they can easily pass through congested lanes and suppress fires rapidly.
The high-pressure pump system operates at just 21 litres per minute, making optimum use of the 100-litre water tank. The vehicles can douse different types of fires using water mist, foam and jet streams, and are effective in managing blazes at the initial stage to prevent escalation, the statement added. PTI SGV VIT MPL MPL
Category: Breaking News
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