Mumbai fire brigade is conducting research and development on the efficiency of it’s fire fighting robot which is an alternative to human firefighters. This robot can be used in situations which may prove too dangerous for humans to tackle.
Depending on the results of the practical use of the robot, the fire squad will decide if they would want to order more robots in the future.The price of one robot is 88 lakhs and has been used to douse off fire in several locations in the city including Bandra and Borivali East.
While speaking to the Free Press Journal, Chief Fire Officer, Hemant Parab, said, “We do not take the robot with us at every fire incident, we take it only if we think its necessary and use it to its full capacity. As of now we have only one robot, but we are thinking of having more robots in future. Currently we are conducting research and development on the robot as per our practical experience through which we can decide if we want to add any new features in it.”
“We did not use the robot in the recent Tardeo fire incident because it took place on the 19th floor and it would be difficult to take the robot by stairs till that floor. Moreover, when we have access to that area there is no need to use the robot, because it is usually used to enter places where the fire fighters cannot reach. During the Tardeo fire incident, we used a few pipe lines of water which was enough to douse the fire, therefore it depends on the situation if we need to use the robot or not,” added Parab.
The robot was first spotted during a massive fire that broke out in the Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) building in Bandra in 2019. The robot helped the firefighters douse off huge flames.
Back in December 2015, during Mumbai Fire Brigade’s annual drill, the the fire fighting robot was presented and had become the talk of the town. In the 2018-19 annual budget, the BMC made provisions for this expensive robot to upgrade the fire brigade. Eventually, the BMC issued tenders for the procurement, commissioning, and testing of the robot.
After the robot was commissioned, Mumbai became the first city in the country to have a robot for fire fighting.
The body of the robot is made up of aluminium sheets which can withstand the temperature of up to 700 centigrade. It can spout 3,000 liters of water per minute and has four cameras, one of which can capture thermal images, which help firefighters to check for people trapped in smoke and fire.
This robot comes with a two-year warranty and a five-year maintenance. It can also help in very high temperature areas and narrow passages.
