Fire brigade to get robots, drones

Mumbai: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has planned to upgrade, supplement and strengthen its existing firefighting systems despite a slashed budgetary allocation of ₹227 crore for the Mumbai Fire Brigade for 2023-24, which is ₹33 crore less when compared to the last financial year.

From proposing to purchase two firefighting robots, the budget includes procurement of drones for firefighting, surveillance and assessment. Additionally, 22 quick response vehicles will also be purchased and allocated to the 24 civic wards to reduce response time.

When questioned on why the budget allocation for the fire brigade was reduced, BMC commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal said, “We have allotted money for whatever the fire brigade had asked for and all these new equipment will also be brought in.”

For capacity building of the firefighters, a state-of-the-art drill tower cum multi utility training simulator at Thakur Village fire station in Kandivali East will be set up by the civic body.

Chahal also said that new electric vehicles for the fire brigade will be purchased as vehicles older than 15 years have to be scrapped.

Under a new project, Programme for Enhancement of Emergency Response (PEER), various projects have been taken up to upgrade infrastructure and capability, with an allocation of ₹176.40 crore for plant and machinery and ₹50.67 crore for construction of new fire stations.

Plans are also afoot to set up an Integrated Command and Control System, which will be a mirror of the existing command centre in Byculla, at Borivali Command Centre.