What is the story about?
As Delhi grapples with a rising number of fire emergencies, the Delhi Fire Services (DFS) has prepared a 25-year roadmap that proposes using artificial intelligence, drones and smart buildings to transform emergency response, while significantly expanding fire infrastructure and recruiting more than 25,000 additional personnel.
The blueprint seeks to modernise the Capital's firefighting system by introducing technology that can detect fires early, dispatch the nearest fire engines within seconds and provide firefighters with live aerial footage during emergencies.
Among the proposals are smart buildings capable of automatically alerting the Fire Control Room before anyone can dial the emergency helpline 101, AI systems that identify and deploy the nearest available fire engine, and drones that transmit live visuals to firefighters en route to an incident, reported
The Indian Express.
The roadmap has been prepared in response to Delhi's rapid urban expansion, changing lifestyles, modern construction materials that often overlook fire safety, and increasingly complex building designs, all of which have placed growing pressure on emergency response services.
According to the document, changing fire patterns have exposed major gaps in infrastructure, manpower, communication systems and emergency response.
"The changing nature of fire emergencies necessitates a paradigm shift in the functioning of the fire service," the document states.
The roadmap aims to shift the DFS from a system that primarily reacts to emergencies to one focused on fire prevention and early detection.
Officials said the plan was prepared after the Palam, Vivek Vihar and Malviya Nagar fires , which together claimed more than four dozen lives during March, May and June this year and highlighted shortcomings in Delhi's emergency response system.
The proposals include mandatory smoke detectors and sprinkler systems, IoT-enabled fire alerts, drones for fire assessment, specialised response units, modern firefighting equipment, an expanded network of fire stations and large-scale recruitment of personnel.
DFS officials said the roadmap has been structured around five, 10, 15 and 25-year implementation timelines with the aim of bringing Delhi's fire and emergency response to "an advanced, global standard".
The roadmap says Delhi currently has 71 fire stations, significantly below the 107 identified as necessary in a 2011 risk assessment conducted by global technology solutions company RMSI for the Union Ministry of Home Affairs.
To bridge the gap, the plan proposes increasing the number of fire stations to 100 by 2030, 120 by 2032, and 196 by 2051. It also recommends constructing 49 new stations during the first six years, followed by four new stations every year for the remainder of the 25-year plan.
The document sets a long-term goal of reducing emergency response time to five minutes, while acknowledging that achieving this across a rapidly growing city remains challenging. In the shorter term, officials aim to bring the average response time in congested areas down from the current 12-15 minutes to under seven minutes.
DFS data show emergency calls have increased by 135 per cent over the past two decades, rising from 15,718 in 2007-08 to 36,877 in 2025-26.
Annual casualties have increased 4.2 times, climbing from 351 to about 1,480 during the same period.
The document notes that most fire-related deaths occur due to smoke inhalation within the first three to five minutes of an incident. It says this critical survival window has become shorter because of evolving building designs, modern construction materials, interior finishes and changing lifestyles.
Reducing the number of fire incidents in the Capital by 2030 is listed as one of the roadmap's key objectives.
The blueprint seeks to modernise the Capital's firefighting system by introducing technology that can detect fires early, dispatch the nearest fire engines within seconds and provide firefighters with live aerial footage during emergencies.
Technology-driven firefighting at the centre of the plan
Among the proposals are smart buildings capable of automatically alerting the Fire Control Room before anyone can dial the emergency helpline 101, AI systems that identify and deploy the nearest available fire engine, and drones that transmit live visuals to firefighters en route to an incident, reported
The roadmap has been prepared in response to Delhi's rapid urban expansion, changing lifestyles, modern construction materials that often overlook fire safety, and increasingly complex building designs, all of which have placed growing pressure on emergency response services.
According to the document, changing fire patterns have exposed major gaps in infrastructure, manpower, communication systems and emergency response.
"The changing nature of fire emergencies necessitates a paradigm shift in the functioning of the fire service," the document states.
The roadmap aims to shift the DFS from a system that primarily reacts to emergencies to one focused on fire prevention and early detection.
Plan follows deadly fires
Officials said the plan was prepared after the Palam, Vivek Vihar and Malviya Nagar fires , which together claimed more than four dozen lives during March, May and June this year and highlighted shortcomings in Delhi's emergency response system.
The proposals include mandatory smoke detectors and sprinkler systems, IoT-enabled fire alerts, drones for fire assessment, specialised response units, modern firefighting equipment, an expanded network of fire stations and large-scale recruitment of personnel.
DFS officials said the roadmap has been structured around five, 10, 15 and 25-year implementation timelines with the aim of bringing Delhi's fire and emergency response to "an advanced, global standard".
Fire station network set for major expansion
The roadmap says Delhi currently has 71 fire stations, significantly below the 107 identified as necessary in a 2011 risk assessment conducted by global technology solutions company RMSI for the Union Ministry of Home Affairs.
To bridge the gap, the plan proposes increasing the number of fire stations to 100 by 2030, 120 by 2032, and 196 by 2051. It also recommends constructing 49 new stations during the first six years, followed by four new stations every year for the remainder of the 25-year plan.
The document sets a long-term goal of reducing emergency response time to five minutes, while acknowledging that achieving this across a rapidly growing city remains challenging. In the shorter term, officials aim to bring the average response time in congested areas down from the current 12-15 minutes to under seven minutes.
Rising emergencies underline need for reform
DFS data show emergency calls have increased by 135 per cent over the past two decades, rising from 15,718 in 2007-08 to 36,877 in 2025-26.
Annual casualties have increased 4.2 times, climbing from 351 to about 1,480 during the same period.
The document notes that most fire-related deaths occur due to smoke inhalation within the first three to five minutes of an incident. It says this critical survival window has become shorter because of evolving building designs, modern construction materials, interior finishes and changing lifestyles.
Reducing the number of fire incidents in the Capital by 2030 is listed as one of the roadmap's key objectives.
