Need for TETRA Mumbai Fire brigade still talks over 52-year-old system
Firefighting would be much safer if there is a provision of text messages," said a senior fire official. The current wireless system is not only one-way, but also full of disturbances.
The communication system used by the Mumbai Fire Brigade hasn't changed since 1960, despite several proposals and promises over the years, reflecting Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's dedication towards the men in blue.
At least two proposals of upgrading the communication system in the past have fallen flat. Civic budgets have also promised hi-tech communication systems worth crores, but till date the firefighters use the primitive "simplex mode" walkie-talkies on the Very High Frequency (VHF) communication system.
The simplex mode can only be used to transmit voice data, not text. "The radio sets we use are outdated. We only get voice message on it. We cannot send across text messages, which in many cases would turn out to be more useful. For instance, during a fire incident we may miss the voice messages sent from the control room. Firefighting would be much safer if there is a provision of text messages," said a senior fire official. The current wireless system is not only one-way, but also full of disturbances.
In 2008-09, the fire brigade had drafted a proposal to acquire a new communication system called the analogue communication radio system or MPT1327, which would be two-way and disturbance-free communication. The proposal included overhauling the entire communication system, which would mean setting up new towers and acquiring new radio sets. Interestingly, three towers at Aarey Colony, RCF Colony, Chembur and Byculla were set up but the radio sets were not acquired. Soon after the deluge of 2005, the BMC started discussions on creating a communication network that could mesh the police, fire department and other emergency responders on a single system, which can withstand all calamities. The network, terrestrial trunked radio (Tetra), was considered to be superior to MPT1327. In order to avoid wastage of public money, the civic body decided to strike down the purchase of radio sets for the MPT1327 technology as the fire brigade would have got new radio sets when the Tetra network would have been established by the BMC disaster management. But while plans for MPT1327 were shelved, the Tetra system known to be a life-saver in moments of crisis the world over, has yet to see the light of the day.
Sources say the 2007 tender for the Tetra network was cancelled by the BMC after a company complained it was not given adequate time to participate. A fresh expression of interest was issued in December 2008 but cancelled due to legal hurdles sometime in 2009. In the process, the fire brigade suffered as no new radio sets were acquired. The fire brigade again sent a proposal to upgrade the system, but it remained with the BMC's finance department for one-and-a-half years till it rejected the proposal four days ago and asked the department to go in for re-tendering.
The civic administration, however, maintained that fire fighting services have not been affected due to the old communication systems. "The communication system is very much in place. The department faced no problem in the last three major fires. However, upgradation is a continuous process and it is on the cards," said Manisha Mhaiskar, additional municipal commissioner.
Source: Indiatimes
