Solan fire hydrant project stuck due to budget constraints

A year after a state-level project appraisal committee approved the plan for laying dedicated water supply line for fire hydrants in Solan city, no funds have been made available for preparing its detailed project report (DPR).

The Rs 2.84-crore project was approved at the meeting of the appraisal committee headed by the Principal Secretary in November last year.

A detailed project report was supposed to be prepared and placed before the state-level technical committee for final approval. Since no funds have been made available for preparing the DPR, the Municipal Corporation (MC), Solan, which is executing the project, could not make any headway.

No funds for DPR

• A Rs 2.84-cr project approved by the appraisal committee in November last year
• A detailed project report (DPR) was supposed to be prepared and placed before the technical committee for final approval
• Since no funds have been made available for preparing the DPR, the MC not able to make any headway

“The technical committee could have approved or rejected the project. In case, the project does not get the final approval of the committee, no funds will be granted for the DPR by the state government,” said Assistant Engineer of the civic body Alpana Thakur.

A 29-km pipeline was supposed to be laid covering 22 locations in the city spread across all 17 wards as per the preliminary plan. At present, all hydrants are connected through the main water distribution lines. This adversely hits effective fire-fighting due to insufficient water supply during emergencies as there is a significant drop in the water pressure. It also hits regular water usage for households and commercial purposes.

A dedicated water supply is required for Solan city as many incidents of fire-fighting operations being hit due inadequate water from the hydrants have been reported in the past.

In a bid to identify the shortcomings, the Home Guards Department, which oversees fire-fighting operations, had conducted an audit of the available resources in 2021 where shortage of dedicated water tankers and absence of fire hydrants at key places had emerged as the main area of concern. Absence of dedicated water pipe lines and non-functional hydrants were found to have reduced the efficiency of fire-fighting operations, said the audit report.

Of the 26 fire hydrants, four were found non-functional at the Old DC office and Sunny Side. In a bid to ramp up the facilities, MC officials had been asked to ensure round-the-clock water availability from a dedicated pipeline.

These laxities would be addressed by this project which would enhance fire-fighting capabilities besides reducing the response time and minimising losses to the property due to fire incidents.