Wait for Ulwe fire station gets longer

` 5.13-CR PROJECT Officials say the building is ready but it will take six months for them to get vehicles, fire engines

NAVI MUMBAI: Residents of Ulwe, Dronagiri and its peripheral areas will have to keep their fingers crossed that they don’t meet with any fire accident for at least another six to eight months.

City and Industrial Development Cor poration (Cidco) had earlier announced that they would inaugurate the fire station in Ulwe by March- end. However, officials from their fire department told Hindustan Times on Thursday that they would take more than six months for the inauguration, as they vehicles and fire engines ordered for the fire station are still not ready.

Built at a cost of Rs5.13 crore, the Ulwe fire station was completed around three months ago. Its premises has houses for 32 employees. Now, if a fire breaks out at Ulwe, fire engines from Kharghar and Uran fire stations have to rush to the spot. Ulwe is 10 kms and 18 kms away from Kharghar and Uran respectively. So even if there is a major fire accident, vehicles from the stations will reach the spot not before 30 to 45 minutes.

Vijay Rane, deputy fire chief of Cidco, said, “We ordered vehicles and fire engine for the Ulwe station a couple of weeks ago. It takes three to four months to make one fire engine. We will be able to inaugurate it only after six months.”

The population of Ulwe, Dronagiri and the adjacent areas for which this station has been developed is more than one lakh.

“Because of the upcoming airport near Panvel, most of the buildings at Ulwe are low-rises. We have asked NMMC to send fire engine from their Belapur station as Belapur is near Ulwe and can be reached within 20 to 25 minutes,” an official said.

The town planning agency has ordered two Bronto skylifts for firefighting at high- rises but they are not likely to come before nine months. “We are purchasing a skylift from Germany and another from Italy. While the first one will cost Rs12 crore, the other Rs8 crore. It takes almost seven months to make such skylift,” a senior officer said.

The only skylift Cidco has is 32 metres high and it can reach only up to eight floors of a building. Cidco has four fire stations at Kharghar, New Panvel, Kalamboli and Uran. Each station has only one fire engine. Only Kharghar has a 32 metre skylift.

The official said, “A total of Rs25 crore has been allotted for purchasing equipment this year. The amount in the previous years was Rs20 crore. We have decided to purchase six fire engines and every station will get two engines.”