Six years on, Faridabad Fire Dept has no hydraulic platform

Bijendra Ahlawat

Faridabad, October 26

The most populated city in the state does not have a single hydraulic platform to deal with fire incidents in high-rise buildings. As the wait for this vital firefighting equipment lingers, the unavailability of adequate and up-to-date infrastructure has put the lives and properties of thousands of residents at risk, according to sources in the district administration.

“Despite creating a separate Fire Department a couple of years ago, the situation has failed to improve because the department is yet to procure critical firefighting equipment for high-rise buildings,” said an official. The city has over 200 high-rise commercial and residential buildings, accommodating a population of over one lakh, but the department woefully lacks infrastructure and has been unable to deal with fire incidents in buildings whose height is more than 12 metres, claim sources.

After the demand for a hydraulic platform in the city was raised in 2015-16, an order was passed by the Haryana Human Rights Commission (HHRC) in May 2016 for its procurement. The order was passed in response to a petition filed by a resident Umesh Prabhakar. It is claimed that one such machine was brought to the city but was disposed of as it was non-functional since day one. In response to an RTI filed by AK Gaur, one of the residents, in 2018, the MC authorities revealed that the procurement was held in the wake of Covid pandemic.

Against the need of about 300 personnel, the department has a staff of just 29 employees and 16 fire tenders in four fire stations. Two new fire stations have failed to get operational due to the non-availability of staff and machinery for the past two years, it is reported. “The Commission might soon issue a notice to the department and the state government for the non-compliance of the order,” said Deep Bhatia, one of the HHRC members.

“A demand for at least two hydraulic platforms of heights 55 and 70 metres respectively has already been placed,” said a senior official of the Fire Department.