Just check, the fire hydrants around you are dry

Just check, the fire hydrants around you are dry
New Indian Express

BANGALORE: According to the International Fire Safety Standards, the fire tender should reach the fire spot in 180 seconds.

But in Bangalore, the fire fighters take more than this prescribed time just to move from the station.

The heavy traffic in Bangalore, which is the biggest disadvantage for commuting during emergency, along with non-cooperation of other civic agencies like BWSSB and BMP has added to the worries of the fire services department.

The fire hydrants which are maintained by the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) are used to fill water tankers attached to the fire fighter.

These are connected to the water mains and are controlled and operated by BWSSB and Fire Services. The fire vehicles on duty refill the water from the nearest available hydrants at the time of an emergency.

There are 624 such fire hydrants valves built by BWSSB of which, only less than a dozen are in the condition to supply water.

The old areas of Bangalore including Chickpet, Balepet, Taragathpet, Avenue Road are over congested and in the absence of fire hydrants, in case of fire there will be a massive loss to life and property. Similarly, the new residential layouts too, lack fire hydrants.

Most of these hydrants are either destroyed by civic agencies including Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP) and BESCOM while widening the road, laying footpaths or erecting electric poles.

Other hydrants lost their existence, thanks to ‘smart Bangaloreans’ who sold the hydrants in iron markets for petty bucks. When asked, the fire personnel admitted that the work was tougher with non-availability of water in hydrants.

“There are very few hydrants which are active in areas like City Market, M G Road and Vidhana Soudha. But, we are not dependent solely on them. We are aware that most of the water hydrants in other parts of Bangalore do not work,” said B G Chengappa, Joint Director, Karnataka State Fire and Emergency Services.

However, BWSSB Chief Engineer (maintenance) T Venkataraju said that the fire hydrants are maintained at the multi-storied buildings.

“We are dedicated to provide water to the fire department. The dried hydrants should not be the problem, as the BWSSB has provided with 67 water service stations from which water can be pumped round the clock. Apart from this, we have 50 water tankers which can be deputed on duty in case of emergencies,” he said.