'Need helicopter': Noida residents' group writes to UP fire chief over safety issues in highrises

A Noida residents' group has written a letter to the Uttar Pradesh Fire Service and brought to light the lack of fire-safety facilities in the city's 7X area that houses over 50,000 flats.

Concerned over fire safety-related issues, a group of citizens in Noida has demanded a helicopter and a fire tender that can reach beyond 12 floors in the city's 7X sectors. The group wrote to the Uttar Pradesh Fire Service and demanded the facilities for the city's 7X area where lakhs of people reside in hundreds of highrise apartment towers.

Emphasising on the lack of a fire station in the area, the group requested the officer to at least set up one unit to cater to over 50,000 flats in the area. (Representational Image, Photo by Sunil Ghosh / Hindustan Times)

In a letter addressed to Uttar Pradesh's director general of fire services Anand Kumar, the group brought to his notice various fire safety-related issues, including the lack of a fire station in Noida's 7X area, comprising housing societies in sectors 74 to 79.

The letter, penned by the Progressive Community Foundation (PCF), also reminded the top officer of his online meeting with residents of Noida in June last year that he had held to review the fire safety situation in housing societies.

"There was a lot of discussion on the topics and problems related to group housing societies, but even after one year, nothing has been done on most of these topics except fire inspection," the PCF wrote in the letter sent earlier this week.

Emphasising on the lack of a fire station in the area, the group requested the officer to at least set up one unit to cater to over 50,000 flats in the area.

"In Noida, there is no fire tender system which can access above the 12th floor of a tower. Requests have been made for providing a fire tender system which can access floors beyond the 12th storey and for a helicopter to meet any emergency fire situation in high-rise towers," the letter added.

Lastly, the group went on to allege that fire-related no-objection certificates (NOC) have been given to most societies without due investigation while many didn't even have essential fire safety items.