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During her visit to the Delhi Fire Service (DFS) headquarters at Connaught Place on Friday, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta announced a sweeping modernisation plan aimed at upgrading the city’s fire safety infrastructure.
The government, in its March Budget, had allocated Rs 504 crore to the DFS. Of this, Rs 110 crore will be used to procure state-of-the-art equipment, including 100 compact fire engines tailored for Delhi’s narrow lanes, Gupta said.
“These mini fire trucks will be crucial in reaching narrow lanes and densely populated areas quickly,” said Home Minister Ashish Sood, who accompanied Gupta. Narrow lanes have been one of the biggest challenges for the DFS to reach accident spots on time.
The Budget includes plans to deploy advanced fire-fighting tools such as Aerial Water Tower (AWT) vehicles, 32-m turntable ladders for high-rise rescues, mini firefighting robots capable of operating in temperatures up to 500°C, and 24 new quick response vehicles (QRVs). These facilities are aimed at boosting emergency response capabilities while ensuring the safety of firefighters.
The plan will also include the integration of a computer-aided dispatch system into the DFS control room, which will enable real-time tracking of all fire trucks. Further, surveillance cameras will be installed in each fire vehicle, and control room personnel will receive technical training to handle upgraded systems efficiently.
Acknowledging the deteriorating state of the DFS headquarters, Gupta announced the construction of a new, modern facility, for which a budget has already been approved.
She outlined a roadmap, including short-term initiatives such as staff recruitment and holding public awareness campaigns, and long-term plans like the development of a GIS-based centralised management portal and international collaborations to train firefighters.
Highlighting the scale and workload of DFS, Gupta said, "Today, DFS has 86 fire stations and over 3,000 dedicated firefighters who face more than 36,000 emergency situations annually. This number is the highest compared to any other metropolitan city in the country... We will expand the number of fire stations and establish 100 new fire posts, especially in narrow lanes...”
She added that the number of firefighters will be increased to effectively respond to emergencies. “It is our commitment that there will be no shortage of equipment for DSF,” Gupta said.
