Finally one of the much awaited and most important project from point of view of citizens safety of Nagpur Municipal Corporation’s (NMC) Fire Department has received green signal from the NMC’s Standing Committee. The proposal was proposed back in 2012, to install new 116 fire hydrants across the city, but the project got delayed due to the lack of response to tenders. Despite floating the tender seven times regarding the installation work, NMC received no response. At last, a positive response has been recorded by the NMC this time. NMC’s Standing Committee has accorded formal approval to install 116 fire hydrants across strategic urban pockets.

 

The project was approved during the Standing Committee meeting held on Monday. Under the first phase, 33 hydrants will be set up by tapping directly into major water supply trunk lines in close co-ordination with the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The project comes as a critical intervention to safeguard the rapidly expanding metropolis, where soaring high-rise developments and densely packed commercial markets have strained existing disaster management capabilities. Currently, fire fighting crews lose precious minutes travelling long distances to refill empty water tenders or awaiting replenishment tankers during major infernos.

 

Once operational, the dedicated hydrant grid will grant fire squads immediate, pressurised access to water right at incident corridors, drastically cutting down response times in congested neighbourhoods. Confirming the execution timeline following the committee’s nod, Shrikant Waikar, Executive Engineer, Public Health Engineering Department, NMC, told ‘The Hitavada’, “The proposal has received formal clearance from the Standing Committee. Once the official resolution file reaches our Department, we will complete procedural formalities and issue the work order without further delay. All installations are being mapped strictly as per the strategic locations identified by the Fire Department.”