HC seeks details of fire-fighting gear - By A Staff Reporter
NEW DELHI: The high court has directed the Delhi Fire Service to furnish complete details of the non-functioning fire-fighting equipment lying with it in order to examine its preparedness.
A division bench of chief justice Arijit Passayat and justice Manmohan Sarin said the DFS should give specific details by September 21 about its non-functional equipment.
The direction came after DFS in its affidavit stated that due to financial constraints some of its vital equipment had been rendered non-functional. The court was hearing a PIL which alleged DFS had become an ineffective service as a number of its equipment had either been condemned or was not functioning.
The PIL said out of 103 water tenders with DFS, only 34 were functional, 16 were faulty and 53 had been condemned in March 1997. The fire service had only four trailer pumps in working order out of 12, while four of its carbon-dioxide foam crash tenders out of five were out of order.
The court after perusing the reply of DFS, observed it has not denied the allegation levelled in the PIL.
Out of 17 water browsers, DFS had condemned nine, five were uncommissioned and only three were in working order, the PIL said giving details about various other non-functional equipment like emergency rescue tenders, turntable ladders, sky-lifts and ambulances.
He said two thermal image cameras costing Rs 19.6 lakh were acquired by the DFS which enable fire-fighting personnel to work in poor visibility conditions caused by smoke. While the camera at Connaught Place fire station is inoperative due to non-availability of charged battery cells, the other at Moti Nagar training centre is kept only for demonstration purposes. None of the two have ever been used in major fires.
In the backdrop of chaotic situation with reference to fire-fighting equipment, what stands out is the efficiency with which jeeps, staff cars and motorcycles are maintained for general official duties.
Wadhera said two emergency rescue tenders costing Rs 77.32 lakh remain unutilised.
``It is a story of inefficiency, carelessness, callousness and negligence on the part of DFS in performing its statutory duties,´´ Wadhera said. According to him, the DFS is responsible for prevention and tackling of fires. It was under the administrative control of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) but has been transferred to the home department of Delhi government since November 1994.
``In spite of the statutory duty cast on the DFS to take preventive steps and safeguard people´s lives and properties against fires, little seems to have been done and achieved,´´ Wadehra said.