The Karnataka government has handed over a 90-metre aerial ladder platform (ALP) to the Karnataka Fire and Emergency Services Department while flagging the Green Deepavali campaign. Bengaluru is now the second city after Mumbai to have such a firefighting system.
Chief minister Basavaraj Bommai told reporters, “Till now, the fire department had only a 50-metre ladder and the state capital is growing fast both horizontally and vertically. Efforts were made to procure this in the last two and a half years. But it got delayed due to some reasons such as Covid-19 and production problems.” The new ladder will be put into use within Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) limits, he added.
Bengaluru has seen a major real estate boom in the last decade. Anarock Property Consultants data shows that in Bengaluru, of the 172 projects launched in the first nine months of 2022, at least 66 (38%) were high-rises (G+10 floors or more). If we look back, of the total 140 projects launched in the city in 2021, at least 51 (36%) were high-rises. Likewise, in 2020, Bengaluru saw launches of 85 residential projects of which 35% were high-rises and pre-Covid in 2019, of 185 projects, at least 67 or 36% were high-rises.
New tech from Finland
A state fire department officer told Moneycontrol that the ALP has been imported from Finland and can reach up to a height of 30 floors. “The 14-tyred vehicle’s height is about 4 meters and it is about 15 metres in length. The vehicle platform can carry about 500 kgs and rescue stranded people at 90 metres’ height,” he said, adding that the platform, unlike a conventional fire engine, needs an external source of water.
Manjunath G, a district fire officer, said that a three-member crew from the department is undergoing a 15-day training to operate the vehicle. The state fire department already has a 54-metre ALP In Bengaluru, and two 34-metre ALPs in Hubbali and Mangaluru, he added.
Manjunath added the trained crews will be available around the clock. Another fire officer added, however, that permission to deploy the new ALP is still pending.
The state fire department is also thinking small in updating its firefighting technology. Manjunath said that it has inducted customised firefighting two-wheelers called Agni to reach congested areas. “We also have special four-wheelers with advanced firefighting technology with 50 litres of capacity. We also have quick response vehicle of 500 litres water capacity and also mist provisions on four wheelers for congested roads,” he added.
State government to invest more
Bommai told reporters that the recent rains had caused flooding only in two of 26 assembly constituencies. “There are over 100 personnel working in SDRF (state disaster response force) to deal with flood situations. The government had already released Rs 20 crore to buy new equipment and another Rs 20 crore was released recently,” he said.
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