Sardar Vallabhbhai International Airport, Ahmedabad has received four new state-of-the-art fire-fighter and rescue vehicles from the Airports Authority of India.
As part of a plan to meet the international standards for fire fighting at different airports of the country, Sardar Vallabhbhai International Airport, Ahmedabad has received four new state-of-the-art fire-fighter and rescue vehicles from the Airports Authority of India. The total cost of these vehicles amounts to Rs16 crore, with each vehicle costing Rs4 crore.
Similar vehicles have been provided to the Mumbai and Delhi airports, while the remaining airports across the country will get them in the coming months.
According to airport officials, these vehicles arrived at the fire department on Wednesday. The vehicles have been made in Austria by a leading fire-fighter and rescue vehicle manufacturing company of the world, Rosenbauer, and supplied by its Indian partner, Bharatiya Vehicles and Engineering Ltd (BVEL).
These fire fighters are also called automatic transmission vehicles and have a number of modern features. According to the joint director of BVEL, Gaurav Bhartiya, these are the latest-generation vehicles fitted with modern equipment for fire-fighting and rescue operations at airports.
Each vehicle has a capacity to carry 10,000 litres of water and 1,300 litres of foam at a time, which is much more than that of the six old vehicles owned by the Ahmedabad airport as of now. The unique feature of these vehicles is that it can be be handled by just one driver.
According to Bhartiya, the vehicles are fully computerised and work like fighter planes during crises. Just as a fighter plane can fire thousands of bullets through triggers, these vehicles are also equipped with similar manoeuvring handles or triggers which can throw water in 270 degree area up to 85 metres away and at a speed of discharging 6000 litres of water in a minute. The triggers are attached with pipes, which are set on the roof of the vehicles.
Even though these vehicles can be handled by just one driver, five more people can sit in their cabins. They can cover the three-km runway in just 45 seconds.
Ahmedabad airport has around 100 employees in its fire department and they are being trained to use this vehicle. An engineer from Austria, Ronald Mark, is training them. Airport officials said that the vehicles have been supplied as part of a plan to meet the international standards of fire safety, as set by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). Sources said that most of the airports in India, as of now, don't meet the aviation safety targets set by ICAO.
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