New Delhi, Oct 16 Delhi LG Taranjit Singh Sandhu on Friday called for an integrated command control centre in the city, pointing than 55 per cent of the 36,877 emergency calls received by the DFS in 2025-26, highest in past six years, were related to fire incidents.
In a meeting to review Delhi Fire Service (DFS) working, Sandhu was also informed that 99 per cent of fire incidents were reported from premises lacking valid fire safety certificates, located mostly in unauthorised colonies, said officials present in the meeting.
The LG directed officials to expedite setting up of new fire stations and recruitment to fill the vacant posts in DFS. The departments concerned were directed by the LG to identify and transfer land in high-risk, densely populated and rapidly developing areas to set up new fire stations.
Land has been made available to DFS for 23 new fire stations, and owning agencies were directed to allot land for the remaining 27 new fire stations.
Delhi currently has 71 fire stations, against 120 mandated by the city’s Master Plan. The target is to expand the fire station network to 121, officials said.
Delhi Home Minister Ashish Sood and senior police, fire and civic body officers were present in the meeting.
Sandhu pointed out in the meeting that Delhi recorded 36,877 emergency calls in 2025-26, with fire calls accounting for 55.26 per cent of the total, while the remaining calls were related to animal and bird rescue and other emergencies.
Almost all the fire incidents occurred in unplanned, unauthorised colonies and buildings where lack of proper access resulted in fire tenders failing to reach in time to douse the fires, officials said.
In addition to this, power utilisation, far above sanctioned load and the presence of combustible materials resulted in fire incidents, even in planned areas, they said.
The LG stressed that in the face of such constraints, the DFS should undertake continuous and proactive awareness campaigns involving every segment of the society, including students, RWAs, industry and market associations.
He called for an integrated Command and Control Centre with vehicle tracking and real-time incident updates, addressing communication blackouts and strengthening connectivity between the fire control room and incident sites.
He directed that the response time of DFS be reviewed, particularly in densely populated colonies, industrial clusters and high-rise buildings and that a zone-wise action plan be prepared with measurable targets and periodic monitoring.
He asked for effective coordination among agencies including the Traffic Police, so that fire tenders get unobstructed access. Periodic fire-risk mapping of vulnerable areas and regular mock drills were also directed by him.
The DFS officials presented a fleet modernisation plan of 197 new appliances, including nine articulated water towers.
Plans for a computer-aided dispatch system integrated with GIS-based vehicle tracking, live streaming of fire scenes and a mobile app for citizens, an integrated UHF and RF network with five zonal control rooms and a master control room, to overcome communication blackouts during major incidents, were also presented in the meeting.
(PTI News)
