UP earmarks Rs 350 crore for high-rise fire tenders in 11 cities

Lucknow To Get 2, Varanasi One

Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh housing department has earmarked Rs 350 crore to procure advanced fire tenders with hydraulic platforms for high-rise firefighting, responding to criticism from residents of multi-storey housing societies over the ability to tackle fires on upper floors.

The funds will be routed through housing development authorities and handed over to the fire department to buy modern tenders for 11 cities where vertical construction has expanded rapidly: Ghaziabad, Lucknow, Agra, Meerut, Kanpur, Gorakhpur, Prayagraj, Varanasi, Bareilly, Moradabad and Ayodhya. Officials said the focus is on strengthening equipment suited for taller residential towers as urbanisation drives higher building footprints across the state.

Ghaziabad, a key National Capital Region city with a growing cluster of high-rise projects, will receive the most advanced vehicles under the plan. Two tenders capable of reaching flats up to 102 metres above ground level are proposed for the city, with an allocation of Rs 100 crore.

A senior housing department officer said Noida and Greater Noida are excluded because they are administered by the industrial development department, not housing agencies. “Noida, Greater Noida and Yamuna Expressway authorities are under the industrial development department. Only housing development agencies would pool in the money and coordinate with the fire department to procure the tenders,” the officer said.

Lucknow will also get two tenders, designed to reach up to 90 metres, while Varanasi is slated to receive one such vehicle. The cost of these high-reach tenders is estimated at about Rs 68 crore per unit, officials indicated.

For Agra, Meerut, Kanpur, Gorakhpur and Prayagraj, the fire department has sought 72-metre-high tenders in line with the height profile of buildings in these cities. In Bareilly, Moradabad and Ayodhya — where high-rise development remains limited — official estimates place the maximum building height under 42 metres, influencing the type of equipment planned.

The highest-capacity tenders will come with turntable ladders and platforms, with telescopic booms to extend firefighters to upper levels, potentially covering towers of up to 30 floors.

Director General of Fire Safety Sujeet Pandey said, “We welcome the positive step of the housing department, which is aimed at improving the overall safety of the urban population.”