Delhi gets land for 29 new fire stations

New Delhi: In a push to strengthen the city’s firefighting infrastructure and cut emergency response time, Delhi Fire Service (DFS) has secured land to set up 29 new fire stations and a training centre across the capital.

While the expansion would take the number of fire stations from 71 to 100, Delhi will still be 21 short of the estimated requirement of 121 fire stations, needed to ensure effective firefighting coverage across the city.

For long, there have been concerns over gaps in Delhi’s firefighting infrastructure, particularly in densely populated colonies, industrial areas and rapidly developing neighbourhoods. According to Master Plan norms, the city requires at least 121 fire stations to achieve a response time of five minutes. The existing network of 71 stations falls considerably short of this requirement.

Of the 29 locations for the new fire stations, seven plots – in Rohini Sector 41, Geeta Colony, Anand Parbat, Yamuna Vihar, Dwarka sectors 38 and 20, and Narela Industrial Area -- have been allotted to DFS for which PWD has already undertaken preparation of construction estimates.