Karachi to get 50 new fire engines next month

Karachi: Fifty new fire engines purchased by the federal government for Karachi from China will arrive in the city by the middle of January 2021 to beef-up its fire fighting system.

The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf has termed these new fire engines as a gift of Prime Minister Imran Khan for people of the city. The PM earlier this year announced a historic Rs 1,100 billion development package for the city after much of its civic infrastructure was devastated in the torrential monsoon rains.

Chairing a meeting of the Sindh Industrial Liaison Committee at the Governor House, Sindh Governor Imran Ismail said that out of these 50 new fire engines, two each would be given to every industrial area of the city.

He said these dedicated fire engines would go a long way in enhancing the fire fighting capability of the industrial estates in the city.

He said that in the next phase every industrial area in the city would be given ambulances.

Speaking recently at a fire safety convention in Karachi, Sindh Information and Local Government Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah said that the provincial government was taking emergency corrective measures to repair the faulty fire engines and overcome shortage of staff being faced by the Karachi’s fire brigade.

“I recently visited the Central Fire Station near Civil Hospital Karachi and came to know about the worrisome situation that only 14 fire engines out of total 44 are operational in Karachi while the city’s fire brigade is also facing acute shortage of staff. Only two of the five snorkels available with them were found operational,” said the Local Government minister on the occasion.

He said the Sindh chief minister was also aware of the situation as he (the CM) had ordered measures to immediately repair the faulty fire engines, snorkels, and also to overcome shortage of staff for the city’s fire brigade.

He said the Sindh government was also in the process of procuring more fire engines and a snorkel for the city.