Mumbai fire brigade is trying to deploy drones specially designed for carrying water in the high rising building, replacing chopper
Mumbai, India’s Financial capital, houses many skyscrapers for residential and commercial purposes. any fire incident in skyscrapers in such an overcrowded city is a dream that no one wants to be true. But firefighters commonly called fire brigades in India need to be prepared for this.
Generally in a major fire event, skyscraper choppers are used and if required army/coast guards are called up for additional help, To overcome this, the Mumbai Fire brigade was planning to procure additional choppers and increase the capabilities of firefighters.
But at a later stage MFB (Mumbai Fire brigade ) has ruled out such procurements due to financial viability. Fire incidents are rare and chopper needs maintenance even if they are not been used.
On the other hand absence of chopper limits the capabilities of MFB to tackle fire incidents in a high-rise buildings. To overcome this MFB has recently invited applications to procure Drones that can carry water pipes up to 300 meters or more height.
The figure of 300 meters has been decided to keep in mind the average height of some of the high-rise buildings in Mumbai.
Source:- https://www.facebook.com/Firefighting-Drone-Technology-526304811136672/photos/537669466666873
According to Development Control and Promotional Regulations (DCPR), any building more than 120 Meters is considered as High rise building.
Although MFB is still using the drones, they are mainly for surveillance purposes to check any victims on upper floors, keep common people away from the site, prevent panic and other stuffs,
According to Mr. Hemant Pranab, Chief of MFB ” a plan to procure helicopters has been dropped due to its high maintenance during the ideal time, Any casualty in a helicopter during the operation will create additional problems since it’s been loaded with huge fuel. therefore we have ruled out such a plan and are now inviting applications from interested parties to provide us with drones that can fly up to a height of 300 meters carrying water pipes with them and spray accordingly
Additionally, Drones4india head Mr. Deepanshu Garg disclosed another side of the comparison why drones are better than helicopters for firefighting
- Helicopter runs on extremely inflammable aviation fuel, which can be more disastrous in case of any mishappening
- Helicopter blades are very powerful and generate a great thrust of air that can increase the air mobility in the area, making fire spread even more.
- If in case of any casualty Copper itself may crash and create more bad than Good
- Fire is a rare situation and there is a long duration in between the actual use of a chopper. this may lead to decreased efficiency of chopper and expertise of the pilot getting rugged out of time
In short, Drone is proving their way to enter a number of fields and will be a game-changer in the upcoming year with governmental support , encouraging companies to make drones in India itself
Source:- Moneycontrol.com
