Fire brigade desperate for a 70-metre skylift as high-rise buildings become a common sight in city, but PMC keeps head buried in sand IT is almost a year since the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) assured the city it will protect upcoming high-rise buildings from all kinds of security hazards, but the fire brigade is still waiting for a vehicle mounted with a 70-metre skylift that it has been demanding for long. 42-metre limitation <table style="width: 116px; height: 42px" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="116" align="right" border="1"> <tbody> <tr> <td><img alt="" src="/imagedata/2010/aug/pune-fire.jpg" border="0" /></td></tr> <tr> <td> illustration/jishu dev malakar</td></tr></tbody></table>With only two skylift-mounted vehicles that can reach 35 metres and 42 metres at its disposal, the fire brigade is unable to reach the upper floors of the many high-rises that have come up in the city. The top three floors of the eight-storey Mutha Chambers II on Senapati Bapat Road were completely destroyed in a fire on the evening of July 29. Instead of taking the incident as an eye-opener, civic authorities have kept their heads buried in the sand when it comes to the desperately needed 70-metre skylift. Chief Fire Officer Prashant Ranpise said permission for 100-metre-tall buildings had been granted in the city but the fire brigade was not equipped to tackle fires in such tall buildings. "Buildings as tall as 100 metres are getting permission, but the maximum reach of our skylift is only 42 metres," he said. "Skylifts of 55 metres, 70 metres or 90 metres reach are the need of the hour." Ranpise added that the desired skylift was not available in India, and since the process of acquiring one was a lengthy, it was imperative that the ball be set rolling now. Long wait "The skylift which we have demanded costs about Rs 14 crore. After issuing the orders, the minimum time required for vehicle delivery is six months," said Ranpise. "There's no company in India which manufactures such skylift vehicles. We have forwarded a proposal in this regard and expect that global tenders will be floated accordingly." The fire brigade got 35-metre and 42-metre skylift vehicles in 2008. Before that, it had a 15-metre skylift. During the July 29 fire at Mutha Chamber II, it was observed that the skylift vehicle took nearly half-an-hour to take a U-turn and reach the spot. "Fire tender vehicles which have skylifts installed on them have a 25-feet chassis which requires broad roads to have easy turning facilities," Ranpise said.

Helpline a hit with women

Fire brigade desperate for a 70-metre skylift as high-rise buildings become a common sight in city, but PMC keeps head buried in sand

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