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Are we ready for urban disaster mangement? Application of GIS in fire service management –A case study in Kolkata
Tapas Ghatak
Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority, Kolkata
t_k_g_@hotmail.com
Tapas Ghatak
Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority, Kolkata
t_k_g_@hotmail.com
The Initiation
With the initiative from Department of Municipal Affair and Fire Service Department Government of West Bengal, a project on Application of GIS in Management of Fire Service in Kolkata Municipal Corporation was taken up under the guidance and coordination from Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA). A complete project team was formed with the represtatatives from KMC (KOLKATA MUNICIPAL CORPORATION), KMDA and Department of Fire Services. During the period of progress of the project officials from CESC was also involved. The actual work of the project was started from July 2001 , which was regularly monitored by Environment Cell, KMDA.
The Data base
Getting Started
The entire information is kept in layered form and attached to a digitised map of Kolkata which can be used at point of time for any plan of action regarding Fire Service Management.
Kolkata Municipal Corporation has an area of 142 Sq.Km. divided into 15 boroughs and 141 wards. For the convenience of work Central Business District (CBD) was initially taken up which has 24 wards. Out of 3120 roads, lanes and by lanes (13750 patches) about 800 roads with 3000 patches are situated in this Zone.Considered fields for these are:
Out of remaining117 wards database of 82 wards, which are ready for immediate utilization for management are:
Once the entire data base was ready and the spatial loacation identified the digitiged map of the city it was readied for further analysis. With the available information the entire Fire Service Management area now could be divided into number of Risk Zones which are also graded. This obviously is calculated with weighted average of different category of information. However the road width (net carriage way) and availibity of water play the major role in defining the Risk Zones. The Fire fighting team now decides the shortest available route from the nearest Fire Station which is also shown in the computer screen.
Matter of Concern for management
A close look in the analysis of data in the Central Business District of Kolkata was really of concern. In some of the wards which are the activity centers, has net carriage way available for most of the roads which does not allow the fire Vehicle to go in. It is noticed in spite of Fire Incident located by the side of the river Ganga , it becomes difficult for the engine to reach there due to non availability of the carriage way. It might be necessary for changing or modifying the designs of some of the fire fighting equipment as per the need of the local situation. A close monitoring with the Traffic and Transport department will also required to be established in the High Risk Zones to keep the road free from parking.
What Next?
The need of the immediate future will be to train up a group of Fire service officials in handling and operation of the generated system and put the system in use for their daily use. This will enable the department to support the system by themselves and generate confidence to tackle the situation more effectively as the required information will be available with them readily. As the system will require a regular update of above information already stored in the soft ware, a trained group with the minimum requirement is required to take the initiated work further.
The present work will be completed by March’ 2002 and handed over to the fire Service department. At present different types of thematic maps are being prepared and will be supplied to different Fire Stations as a record of information.
A complete change in the present system will also have to be conceived where the entire service will be TIME oriented, i.e. any fire incident will have to be reached within specific time say, 3-4 minutes from the nearest fire station and the entire future model has to be designed accordingly. Therefore the Question :” Are we ready for Urban Disaster Management ? If not How long should we wait ?”
With the initiative from Department of Municipal Affair and Fire Service Department Government of West Bengal, a project on Application of GIS in Management of Fire Service in Kolkata Municipal Corporation was taken up under the guidance and coordination from Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA). A complete project team was formed with the represtatatives from KMC (KOLKATA MUNICIPAL CORPORATION), KMDA and Department of Fire Services. During the period of progress of the project officials from CESC was also involved. The actual work of the project was started from July 2001 , which was regularly monitored by Environment Cell, KMDA.
The Data base
- Details of all the roads, lanes, by lanes of all the 141 wards of Kolkata which includes their width, length, parking status, footpaths, net carriage way. This enables us to generate themes on GIS about the accessibility Fire Brigades in different roads of KMC.
- Details of all the Deep tube wells owned by KMC with locations and relevant details.
- Details of all the Hydrant with their present status.
- Locatioal details of all markets, public places like cinema halls, theaters etc.
- Location and other details of all the major fires in Kolkata.
- Locations of some high rise buildings.
- Locations of most of the inflammables storage place in Kolkata.
- Details of each Fire Stations in Kolkata Fire District
- Locations and details of transformer under CECS.
Getting Started
The entire information is kept in layered form and attached to a digitised map of Kolkata which can be used at point of time for any plan of action regarding Fire Service Management.
Kolkata Municipal Corporation has an area of 142 Sq.Km. divided into 15 boroughs and 141 wards. For the convenience of work Central Business District (CBD) was initially taken up which has 24 wards. Out of 3120 roads, lanes and by lanes (13750 patches) about 800 roads with 3000 patches are situated in this Zone.Considered fields for these are:
- Street Name
- Carriage Way Width
- Left Parking
- Right Parking
- Net Carriage Way Width
- Road Type
- Left Footpath
- Right Footpath
- Ward No.
| Fire Station | 3 Nos. |
| Market | 75 Nos. |
| Big Fire | 83 Nos. |
| High Rise Building | 63 Nos. |
| Hydrant | 19 Nos. |
| Big Dia Tubewell | 405 Nos. |
| Public/Cinema Hall | 53 Nos. |
| Bustee | Not Available |
| Water Bodies | 13 Nos. |
| Inflamable Unit | 76 Nos. |
| Location Points | 54 Nos. (In Wardno (For Reference) 47, 48 & 49) |
Out of remaining117 wards database of 82 wards, which are ready for immediate utilization for management are:
| Road | 13750 Patches of 3120 No of Roads (141 Wards) |
| Fire Station | 16 Nos. (141 Wards) |
| Market | 194 Nos. (141 Wards) |
| Incidence of Big Fire | 352 Nos. (141 Wards) |
| High Rise Building | 739 Nos. (141 Wards) |
| Hydrant | 79 Nos. (141 Wards) |
| Big Dia Tubewell | 1590 Nos. (141 Wards) |
| Public/Cinema Hall | 164 Nos. (141 Wards) |
| Bustee | 51 Nos. (In Ward No. 8 & 9) |
| Water Bodies | 66 Nos. (141 Wards) |
| Inflamable Unit | 636 Nos. |
Once the entire data base was ready and the spatial loacation identified the digitiged map of the city it was readied for further analysis. With the available information the entire Fire Service Management area now could be divided into number of Risk Zones which are also graded. This obviously is calculated with weighted average of different category of information. However the road width (net carriage way) and availibity of water play the major role in defining the Risk Zones. The Fire fighting team now decides the shortest available route from the nearest Fire Station which is also shown in the computer screen.
Matter of Concern for management
A close look in the analysis of data in the Central Business District of Kolkata was really of concern. In some of the wards which are the activity centers, has net carriage way available for most of the roads which does not allow the fire Vehicle to go in. It is noticed in spite of Fire Incident located by the side of the river Ganga , it becomes difficult for the engine to reach there due to non availability of the carriage way. It might be necessary for changing or modifying the designs of some of the fire fighting equipment as per the need of the local situation. A close monitoring with the Traffic and Transport department will also required to be established in the High Risk Zones to keep the road free from parking.
What Next?
The need of the immediate future will be to train up a group of Fire service officials in handling and operation of the generated system and put the system in use for their daily use. This will enable the department to support the system by themselves and generate confidence to tackle the situation more effectively as the required information will be available with them readily. As the system will require a regular update of above information already stored in the soft ware, a trained group with the minimum requirement is required to take the initiated work further.
The present work will be completed by March’ 2002 and handed over to the fire Service department. At present different types of thematic maps are being prepared and will be supplied to different Fire Stations as a record of information.
A complete change in the present system will also have to be conceived where the entire service will be TIME oriented, i.e. any fire incident will have to be reached within specific time say, 3-4 minutes from the nearest fire station and the entire future model has to be designed accordingly. Therefore the Question :” Are we ready for Urban Disaster Management ? If not How long should we wait ?”