14 years on, hydraulic ladder a distant dream

Tribune News Service

Harshraj Singh

Ludhiana, June 10

Fire at a high-rise building at Swami Vivekanand Vihar in Bhai Randhir Singh Nagar last night has again brought into focus the need for equipping the local fire brigade with hydraulic ladders. The Municipal Corporation has failed to purchase hydraulic ladders despite starting chalking out plans for the same around 2008.

The firefighters had a tough time dousing the flames inside the building in the absence of a hydraulic ladder. A number of fire incidents have taken place in the high-rise buildings here in the past but the MC seemed to have learnt no lesson. Officials of the MC’s fire wing have raised the demand for hydraulic ladders several times, but to no avail.

In June 2021, a private firm demonstrated the working of a hydraulic turntable ladder in Zone D, but it has not been purchased to date. The MC had also planned to purchase a 50-metre hydraulic ladder for the fire brigade under the Smart City Mission but the plan could not see the light of day.

Senior Deputy Mayor Sham Sundar Malhotra said he had witnessed the trial of the hydraulic machine last year. There was a plan to purchase two such machines. He blamed the officials concerned for delaying the procurement process.

An employee of the local fire service said the fire had occurred in a flat on the fifth floor on Thursday evening and it spread to another flat after blasts in two LPG cylinders. There was no water supply in the pipeline of the fire safety system in the flats.

He said the firefighters took around four hours to douse the flames after taking the water pipes through the staircase of the building. If they had a hydraulic ladder, they could have made efforts to swiftly douse the flames from outside the building, he said.

It is required to mention that a large number of high-rise buildings have come up in the city but firefighting equipment required is yet to be purchased for the fire service. Also, a number of multi-storey buildings have come up in narrow lanes in violation of building bylaws. Sources said many such buildings lack fire safety arrangements.

Firemen’s ordeal

A fire official said the firefighters took around four hours to douse the flames after taking the water pipes through the staircase of the highrise building at BRS Nagar. If they had a hydraulic ladder, they could have made efforts to swiftly douse the flames from outside the building, he said.

‘Tenders soon’

MC Superintending Engineer Rajinder Singh said it was earlier not decided which kind of machinery was to be purchased. He, however, said the tenders would be floated soon for purchasing a hydraulic turntable ladder and it would also be equipped with a platform.

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