Karachi: Sindh Governor Imran Ismail has said that the arrival of the 50 state-of-the-art fire engines and two bowsers to enhance Karachi’s firefighting capability is a fulfilment of another promise of Prime Minister Imran Khan to Karachiites.
Sindh governor stated this as he along with Federal Planning and Development Minister Asad Umar, IT and Telecommunication Minister Aminul, and Maritime Affairs Minister Ali Zaidi attended a ceremony at Karachi Port to receive 50 new fire engines and two bowsers from China.
The federal government has spent Rs 1.4 billion to purchase these firefighting vehicles for Karachi.
Two bowsers having the capacity to store 18,000 litres of water are fitted with modern pumps making them capable to do firefighting.
Each of the new fire truck is capable of storing up to 7,000 litres of water. The fire engines are also equipped with power water nozzles for conducting firefighting operations at the high-rise buildings.
The new fire engines will be helpful in reducing material and human losses in the city due to the frequent fire incidents. At present, the city’s fire brigade merely has 14 fire engines in functional status out of the fleet of 44 fire trucks. Out of total 25 fire stations in Karachi, only 11 have been functional to respond to the fire emergencies.
Speaking on the occasion, Sindh governor said that 50 state-of-the-art fire engines and two bowsers were like the New Year gift of Prime Minister Imran Khan for people of Karachi.
Large numbers
The governor said that never in the past the fire engines had been purchased at a time in such a large number. He said that each of the nine representative associations of the industrial estates in Karachi would get two of these fire engines under the public-private partnership arrangement.
The governor said it was their desire that Prime Minister Khan himself should come to Karachi to formally hand over these fire engines to Karachi Metropolitan Corporation after their custom clearance.
Federal Planning and Development Minister Asad Umar said that a modern mass transit system would become functional on the Green Line section of Bus Rapid Transit System in Karachi by July this year. He said that buses for the Green Line corridor of BRTS would arrive by June of this year.
