Mumbai continues to neglect its fire hydrants. A report compiled by the hydraulic department of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has revealed that close to 66% of fire hydrants present across the city are not in working condition.
The fire hydrants, which were set up during the British era, are also known as fire plugs and are mainly used as access points for water supply to douse fires.
The report states that of the 9,499 hydrants in the city, 6,223 are not operational and need repairs. The civic body has also been using these hydrants to flush out contaminated water, and to regulate water pressure.
The report suggests that negligence on part of civic authorities has ensured a slow death for the hydrants. The disregard for these can be gauged from the fact
that the non-operating ones haven’t been attended to for the last two years.
Even statistics procured from the fire department throw light on how the city has forgotten about its fire hydrants.
Until 2003, the city had over 19,000 hydrants, all spaced at a distance of 150 metres from each other.
While a few were dismantled, many others have mysteriously disappeared or got buried underneath pavements after road works have been undertaken.
The death knell for the hydrants was first sounded when water supply hours in the city were curtailed a decade ago.
Owing to the intermittent water supply and absence of adequate water supply, firemen were not able to draw water from the hydrants at all times and so began using water tankers.
Fire officials said these tankers require refilling after their carrying capacity gets exhausted. “Crucial fire-fighting time is lost in refilling activity,” said a fire official.
Also, many "orphaned" hydrants became victims of carelessness of road contractors, who raised road surfaces without rehabilitating the hydrants.
The hydraulic department argues that a lack of adequate manpower came in the way of proper maintenance of fire hydrants.
“There has been no recruitment in the labour force in the department for a decade-and-a-half now. The existing manpower is burdened with leakage detection and removal work,” a senior department engineer said.
The engineer added that these systems could still be revived. “Reviving these won’t require a huge monetary investment. We will only have to service the valves and replace damaged nozzles,” he said. “However, the job will require beefing up manpower.”
For now though, no such plans have been identified. Of the 6,223 faulty hydrants, a majority (4,443) are in the island city, while 851 are in western suburbs and 929 in the eastern suburbs.
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