Fire hydrants worth Tk 41m remain unused
The Chattogram Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) installed a total of 174 fire hydrants at different places of the city in six years from 2016 to 2022 at a cost of Tk 41 million as a source of water to douse fire. However, none of these have ever been used by the Fire Service And Civil Defence.
This issue came to the fore after a number of fire incidents in Chattogram following the Bailey Road fire in Dhaka.
The two government agencies are giving different statements regarding using these hydrants. The fire service has cited the low water pressure of the hydrants for not using these. They say at four to five bars (the unit to count water pressure) of water pressure needed to use these hydrants. The water pressure of these hydrants is only one bar, which can raise water up to 10 metres at most. Besides, these hydrants don’t have any hose pipes. The hydrants don’t have the adapter to attach hose pipes either.
Speaking to Prothom Alo, deputy director of the Fire Service and Civil Defence in Chattogram, Dinmoni Sharma said the WASA did ask for any technical assistance from them (fire service) before or after installing the hydrants. The hydrants were installed improperly. The fire service cannot use these hydrants due to low water pressure and for not having any system to attach pipes.
Meanwhile, the WASA is saying that they had installed 30 fire hydrants in the city at a cost of Tk 1 million in 2016 after consulting with the fire service in several phases. After the installation, the officials of the fire service verified its efficacy. Following that, some 144 more hydrants were installed accordingly.
Chief engineer of Chattogram WASA Maksud Alam told Prothom Alo, “There are no hydrants in any city of the country. The WASA installed fire hydrants in Chattogram for the first time in the history of the country. The hydrants were installed after studying different models of hydrants used in advanced countries. We also consulted the fire service. The WASA and fire service held 10 joint meetings even after the completion of the project. So I don’t know why they are not using it."
The fire service says the losses from fire are increasing as the number of water sources in the city is declining rapidly. The fire service recorded a total of 7,111 fire incidents in the district over the last five years resulting in a loss worth Tk 739.8 million.
Speaking regarding the low water pressure and adapters needed to use the hydrants, Maksud Alam said around Tk 5,000-7,000 is needed to make an adapter. The fire service will have to bear this cost. And it’s completely impossible for WASA to provide water in these hydrants at a pressure of four bar. The fire service has their own pumps that they use for increasing pressure to bring water from various sources in case of a fire.
The fire service says the losses from fire are increasing as the number of water sources in the city is declining rapidly. The fire service recorded a total of 7,111 fire incidents in the district over the last five years resulting in a loss worth Tk 739.8 million.
Rashidul Hasan, dean of the Faculty of Architecture and Planning of Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology (CUET) feels the hydrants cannot be used due to the lack of coordination between the two agencies.
Speaking to Prothom Alo, he said, “This initiative of WASA could be a good one. But that hasn’t been the case. All the technical issues should have been sorted out before the installation. The two agencies should sit together to solve the problems and make the hydrants usable without any delay.”
*This report appeared on the print and online versions of Prothom Alo and has been rewritten in English by Ashish Basu