Nagpur: More than 40 fires broke out across the city on the first day of Diwali. Firecrackers and other causes set off blazes in neighbourhoods across Nagpur, and the question of how well the city is equipped to fight fires moved to the front of the agenda.
The Nagpur Municipal Corporation's standing committee has now cleared 106 new fire hydrants. They will be installed along roadsides and connected directly to the main water lines.
The corporation's expectation is straightforward: in an emergency, firefighters will get a large volume of water immediately. A crew that finds water at the hydrant does not have to wait for a tanker.
Some corporators have objected. Their concern is the city's water position — whether the main lines can spare the supply that 106 new draw points would need. That objection has turned a fire-safety decision into a water-distribution argument.
Nagpur's problem is not unique this season. Across the Mumbai region, the fire brigade received 499 calls between November 6 and 10, of which 333, or 67%, were linked to crackers. Two people died and eight were injured in that period.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has banned aerial fireworks until November 25. The Thane district administration has extended a similar restriction until January 8, 2027.
For Nagpur, the practical question is different. A hydrant is only as good as the line behind it. If the main runs at low pressure in summer, a hydrant on that line will not deliver the volume a fire needs.
The corporation has not yet published where the hydrants will go, what they will cost, or when they will be commissioned.