Reaching for the sky: Mumbai ups its fire safety game with 104m ladder

To address fire safety amid the spurt of highrises across Maharashtra the Government of Maharashtrarsquos Urban Development Department on March 13 2026 issued a Government Resolution directing all municipal corporations to upgrade their resources to fight highrise fires As the first goto solution the state government has directed all municipal corporations to have at least one tall ladder in every fire stationBut will procuring ladders be enough to put out fires in the city that has nowhere to go but up resulting in buildings that climb up to 80 floors The new ladders too can only go up to approximately 35 floorsLike the old adage goes it takes money to stretch your arms in Mumbai This is also the reason why Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC had little to no choice in approving buildings as high as 250 meters in height And this is also why the Mumbai Fire Brigade is considering procurement of a 104 m ladder for fire fightingAt present the tallest ladder in Mumbai is 90 metres tall which can scale up to 30 floors during fire rescue operationsExperts have noted that taller ladders are not the only solution to fighting highrise fires With an annual budget exceeding Rs 150 crore over the past three years leading to the Mumbai Fire Brigade has the resources and continues to upgrade them periodically to fight highrise fires An official said ldquoEven a 104m ladder will be able to tackle fires up to only 35 floors So we have to have other robust mechanisms to fight high rise fires on taller floorsrdquoMoreover the height of tall buildings is not the only challenging aspect of fire safety in highrise buildings in Mumbai An official said ldquoEvery fire starts out small but the response time is important to contain the fire In such a case the first responders are usually the occupants of the building themselves They also serve as an operational internal fire fighting systemrdquoPro active residents Need of the hourA senior official of the Mumbai Fire Brigade said ldquoWe have mooted the proposal to procure a 104m turn table ladder to fight fires in Mumbai A decision will be taken about its procurement and tenders will be floated after studying all aspects such as availability of open spaces around buildings and feasibility of its use There is no doubt that Mumbai needs a tall ladder Their present tallest ladder in Mumbai is 90 metresrdquoAnother official said ldquoEven a 104m ladder will be able to reach up to only 35 or 40 floors So we depend on the highrise buildingrsquos fire fighting system for response However in several cases we have noticed the fire fighting system is not operational and maintainedrdquo2200Number of under construction buildings in MumbaiHigh rise Height Between 60 and 80 floorsBMC official from Development Plan Department 104 MThe height of the new laddersVilas NagalkarExpertspeakVilas Nagalkar Mumbaibased architect who is a member of Practising Engineers Architects and Town Planners Association PEATAldquoThere are two main challenges in fire response and rescue for highrises The fire escape area is often encroached by occupants Interior decorators tend to make structural changes to a flatrsquos internal firefighting system making it ineffective in case of any emergencyBoth these things should be avoidedrdquoldquoSeveral changes in the way a building is now constructed from a fire safety point of view have helped Provisions have now been made to change the elevation of the corridor and fire evacuation lift The lift is now constructed at a higher elevation after it was noted that water pumped by the fire brigade from windows seeps through the door of the flat into the common area clogging the fire evacuation lift There are up to four instructions to prevent spreading of a fire from a household into the common area and subsequently the evacuation area which are all in the form of fireretardant doorsrdquoChallenges with response timeAccording to recommendations of the Ministry of Home Affairrsquos standing fire advisory council the fire brigadersquos response time should be five minutes in urban areas and up to 20 minutes in rural areas The fire brigade upgraded its infrastructure and constructed mini fire stations to bridge the gap between main fire stations It also procured several mini fire tenders for quick responseChallenges with infrastructure The 104m ladder has a width of 17 m and a turn radius of 24 to 28m which can prove challenging to deploy in some cases because of road construction work narrow roads and parked cars taking up spaceCase study There was a fire in Beaumonde Towers in Worli in 2018 A former official of the Mumbai Fire Brigade pointed out that despite having the 90 m ladder handy the fire brigade could not use it above 30 floorsThe former official said ldquoThere was no space for the vehicle to turn We realised the podium was getting in the way and the podium itself would not have the loadbearing capacity to support the vehiclerdquoAverage response time of Mumbai Fire BrigadeAnywhere above 2 to 7 minutes after emergency call without trafficMumbai Fire Brigadersquos budget over 3 years202627 Rs 2309 crore allocated202526 Rs 11168 crore revised202425 Rs 15991 crore revisedWhat does the internal fire fighting system consist of1 Turn table ladders of 64 metres 40 metres 32 metres 30 metres2 Mumbairsquos tallest turn table ladder of 90 metres height upto 30 floors of a building3 Firefighting robots imported from France4 Mini water tenders with water mist technology to tackle fires in densely populated and slum areas with narrow roads5 Quick response vehiclesProcurement plan2026271 Five new highrise firefighting vehicles2 Four more first response vehicles especially commissioned by the fire brigade which have a hydraulic platform of 24 metres tall3 Eleven of first response fire engines with advance technology which can deliver water vertically upto 250 metres4 Four support vehicles with high pressure water pumps and lighting arrangementWhat does the GR sayldquoMaharashtra is undergoing rapid urbanisation As per the national standards due to the shortage of fire stations fire and rescue vehicles and trained manpower required for fire fighting services the response time for fire fighting and rescue work is maximum five minutes in urban areas and 20 minutes in rural areasrdquo