The Delhi Government has inducted two robots into the city's firefighting fleet. The robots were bought from an Austrian company and a few months ago a fire in the PVC market at Delhi's Tikri Kalan was controlled with the help of these robots.
Delhi Chief Minister, Arvind Kejriwal, took to Twitter to inform people about the robots and tweeted: "Our Government has procured remote-controlled fire fighting machines. Our brave fireman can now fight fires from a maximum safe distance of up to 100 meters. This will help reduce collateral damage and save precious lives."
Meanwhile, Delhi Home Minister Satyendra Jain, said that there was an increase in cases of large-scale fires every year during the scorching summer days, and for the first time, such remote controlled robots have been brought into the country to deal with blazes.
"At present, the city Government has inducted two such robots. If the trial is successful, more such robots will be inducted into the fleet. These remote controlled robots will prove to be major troubleshooters for the firefighters," said Jain. Atul Garg, Director, Delhi Fire Service (DFS), said that every robot is equipped with water pipes and is controlled using a wireless remote.
"The robot, upon reaching the fire site can extract the smoke caused by the fire in the building through its ventilation system. These robots make use of high water pressure to douse the fire, spraying 2,400 liters of water in a minute. The spray installed in them divides water into small droplets and scatters it up to an area of 100 meters," said Garg.
"The firefighters of DFS have also been given specialised training to operate theobot. A separate Standard Operating Procedure has also been prepared, which will be followed to control the fire," said Jain. A high-resolution camera is installed in this robot as well, which is capable of showing clear pictures despite the presence of fire, smoke, and water around it.