Delhi fire preparedness 'average', 80% of city unplanned: Chief Fire Officer
Delhi's fire preparedness is only "average" and not up to the mark for the national Capital, Chief Fire Officer of the Delhi Fire Service has said. In an interview, he attributed the situation to the city's largely unplanned development, which has left fire prevention and response capacity struggling to keep pace.
According to the CFO, about 80% of Delhi is unplanned, with over 1,000 unauthorised colonies. Building by-laws introduced in 1957 and revised in 1983 and 2016 have not been followed in large parts of the city. "Fire prevention and preparedness have not kept pace with this development," he said. "The by-laws and Fire Services infrastructure have not expanded sufficiently, leaving a wide gap in prevention, applicability and enforcement."
He noted that only about 5% of buildings in Delhi have Occupancy Certificates. Construction in unauthorised areas often never reaches the municipal corporation or the building authority, and therefore does not come to the Fire Department for a Fire Safety Certificate (FSC) or a No Objection Certificate. Under Rule 34, the department inspects specified categories of buildings and ensures compliance, but once a building is constructed, the prescribed requirements must be followed. "If passive fire protection is inadequate, merely retrofitting active systems cannot solve the problem," he added.
The CFO cited data from 2024-25 to highlight the value of certification: of the 36,000 calls attended by the department, only 1% came from buildings that had been issued FSCs. This suggests that certified buildings have largely remained safe from fire.
On third-party fire-safety certification, a government initiative recently notified, the CFO said its impact is yet to be seen. He stressed that third-party agencies must be properly registered and selected for their experience and competence, and that their ethical conduct would be critical.
The Fire Service also faces severe shortages in manpower and infrastructure. Delhi currently has 71 fire stations against a requirement of 120, and only about 2,500 firefighters against a requirement of over 12,000. The CFO said the department expects to receive an additional 9,000 firefighters, with the number of stations proposed to increase to 120 over the next five years. Land for eight fire stations has already been obtained, and sites have been identified with the DDA and Gram Sabha for more.
On response times, the prescribed standard of five minutes is difficult to achieve because of heavy traffic and narrow lanes, especially in congested areas like Old Delhi. To address this, the department has deployed 24 Quick Response Vehicles (QRVs) — smaller fire tenders designed for narrow streets.
The CFO also outlined a 25-year technology vision plan, including drones and computerised dispatch systems, and said funds for modern equipment have been sought. "The landscape should change significantly over the next three to four years," he said.
