KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah handed over 10 brand new fire engines and one snorkel to different local bodies during a ceremony held at Baradari on Friday.

The fire engines are Meraj special purpose MFT-8500 model firefighting vehicles built on the chassis of Isuzu FVR 4x2 Euro-2 trucks. Each engine has an 8,000 litres water tank and a 500 litres foam tank made of polypropylene sheets that have a life-time warranty and corrosion protection.

Besides this they have German origin normal and high pressure fire pumps and a built-in priming system along with high pressure 50-metre-long hose reels among other things, including a spacious crew compartment for firefighters equipped with all necessary tools.

Each fire engine has been purchased at a cost of Rs19 million bringing up the total cost of 10 fire engines to Rs190m.

A Bronto firefighting snorkel of 104 metres height has a 600-LPM fire pump capacity, a 1,000 LPM foam tank, remote water monitor for firefighting from cage having capacity of 3,800 LPM.

It has four hydraulically powered outriggers that provide a strong stabilisation system to rescue at a maximum height with accuracy and stability.

Different local bodies in Sindh given a total of 10 new fire trucks

It also has 360-degree rotation with telescopic booms. The snorkel has been purchased for Rs495m.

While handing over the snorkel and three fire engines, the CM also handed over the remaining fire engines to the elected representatives of local bodies from Hyderabad, Qasimabad in Hyderabad, Sukkur, Shaheed Benazirabad, Mirpurkhas, Larkana and Jacobabad.

Mayor Karachi Wasim Akhtar received the keys of the snorkel and the three fire engines.

Addressing the ceremony, the CM said that there was a dire need to equip all district and taluka headquarters with fire engines and other such equipment to improve the firefighting capabilities of the fire brigade.

“We started this exercise during our last tenure and had ordered the purchase of one snorkel and 10 fire engines for the local bodies of Karachi and other districts,” he said adding that he was glad to hand over the keys of the fire trucks to the local bodies’ representatives.

He said that Karachi was one of the biggest cities of the world with lofty structures and multistorey buildings.

“It was in need of a snorkel for firefighting in high-rise buildings. The snorkel I am handing over to the mayor of Karachi is one [of] the highest snorkels in the world with 104 meters height for rescuing people stuck in high-rise buildings during a fire incident,” he said.

The programme was also attended by Minister for Local Government Saeed Ghani, Women Development Minister Shehla Raza, Adviser to the Chief Minister Murtaza Wahab, the Hyderabad mayor and representatives of different local bodes.

Published in Dawn, October 13th, 2018