After a delay of nearly three years, the Mumbai fire brigade has managed to procure the much awaited 90-metre hydraulic platform ladder. The equipment arrived at the Mumbai dock from Finland after paying custom duties of more than Rs3 crore. It will be the latest addition to the sophisticated equipment used by the brigade for firefighting in high-rises.
Bought for Rs16 crore, the platform can go up to 30 floors.
The move assumes significance given the alarming number of fire incidents in city's high-rises, the recent ones being the fire in Andheri's Lotus Business Park and the Lake Lucerne building in Powai.
Late chief fire officer Sunil Nesarikar had visited Finland in April to inspect the equipment and had given a go-ahead for its procurement.
The decision to purchase the aerial ladder was taken in 2012 but was delayed because of on-going cost negotiations with the Finland company, the only one that manufactures aerial ladders.
Until now, the Mumbai fire brigade had a 67-metre ladder, which can reach up to 22 floors. However, with increasing number of high-rises coming up and a rise in fire accidents in them, the BMC took the call to purchase the 90-metre-high platform-ladder.
Senior fire officers confirmed the development but said that the purchase doesn't undermine the need to carry out regular fire safety audits by high-rises.
"Mumbai's upcoming high-rises are much taller than 30 floors, with some even going up to 100 floors. Such buildings should have an inbuilt firefighting system and they should also carry out fire safety audits every six months to ensure the system is functional," a senior officer said.
