The Delhi government is trying to augment its resources for fighting fire-related emergencies by increasing threefold its quick response teams under the Delhi Disaster Management Authority.
From the existing 11 QRTs, the government is planning to take their strength to 44.
The DDMA plans to set up 33 additional QRTs to be able to tackle the rising number of calls it receives about outbreaks of fire in the capital.
The QRTs work in coordination with the fire department and also look after rehabilitation of victims of fire incidents.
The authority has sent a proposal on increasing the number of QRTS to the finance department of the Delhi government.
Sources in DDMA said the existing 11 QRTs are deployed in the 11 police districts. “We now propose to have a team at every sub-divisional magistrate’s office,” an official said.
Apart from fire incidents, the DDMA tackles other disasters too. Sources said a DDMA team takes less than 40 minutes to reach the site of a disaster after it receives a call.
The DDMA has special vehicles for handling fire incidents. Every team has three persons to control any incident of disaster.
These special vehicles have a fire cylinder, a stone cutter, water pump, gum boots, safety helmets, search lights, oxygen cylinders and masks.
On an average, the Delhi Fire Service receives between 60 and 70 calls every day.
The DDMA QRTs come into play in cases where the damage is large. The proposal to increase the number of QRTs is also linked to the need felt by officials to cut down the response time of these specialised units.
Recently, eight people were injured and more than 5,000 had to leave their houses when a fire broke out in Masoodpur and Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung had questioned the over 30 minute delay in arrival of QRT and Delhi government officials.