Fire tenders must be stationed along Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway

Mumbai: The loss of lives and damage to property after the Dahanu tanker explosion would have been lower if fire tenders had been stationed at strategic locations along the Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway. A fire engine from Gujarat arrived at the spot after nearly two and a half hours on Saturday.
The explosion near a hotel claimed 10 lives and left many injured.The blaze also damaged the hotel and vehicles parked nearby.
The explosion occurred around 2.30pm but the Boisar and Tarapur fire brigade, located near the site, reached after a tender from the Gujarat-based Sarigam GIDC fire station in Valsad district arrived around 5pm.
The Sarigam firemen received a call from the Kasa police station at 4pm, after which a tender with two firemen arrived at the spot. In fact, local residents took the injured to the Kasa primary health centre.
The local police cordoned off the area but watched helplessly as three maxicabs, three autos and 10 motorbikes bore the brunt of the flames. The hotel and some shops in the vicinity suffered huge losses as furniture and goods were damaged.
Thane collector P Velarasu said the reaction time of the Sarigam fire station was quicker than their Boisar and Tarapur counterparts as they took the highway. “In the case of the Boisar and Tarapur fire stations, it takes longer for vehicles to get on to the highway from internal roads,” he said.
Explosions and accidents on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway in Manor, Palghar, Wada, Kasa and Dahanu have led to huge damage of property and loss of lives due to delay in fighting the fire. The double hull tanker that caught fire near Charoti naka had engulfed a massive area by the time a fire engine arrived.
Nine persons were killed in the January 8 Mumbai-Dehradun Express fire near Dahanu railway station, a luxury bus and chemical tanker collision in Manor claimed eight lives, and the bodies were charred beyond recognition by the time the fire tender arrived from Gujarat.
Velarasu said fire tenders will have to be stationed at strategic locations along the highway to reduce reaction time. “But it may not be a practical solution as it involves hiring a lot of manpower,” he said. In any petrochemical fire, the aim is to contain the damage, he said.
Most major accidents on this stretch have been blamed on reckless driving. The police register negligence cases against drivers and then close the cases. The absence of traffic police along the highway beyond Virar has made it a free run for reckless drivers.