Khammam’s Seethampet gram panchayat develops mini fire engine to fight stubble fires

Villagers of Seethampet in Khammam district have innovatively modified a tractor water tanker into a mini fire engine at a cost of Rs 30,000 to tackle frequent fire accidents caused by stubble burning.

Khammam: Upset over frequent fire accidents caused by stubble burning and snapping of electricity distribution lines, the sarpanch and villagers of Seethampet gram panchayat came up with an innovative idea to douse the fires.

The sarpanch Alla Mani, with the support of the village elders Alla Panakala Rao and Bayyana Babu Rao, developed a mini fire engine by making minor modifications to the gram panchayat tractor water tanker.

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A high-pressure motor and a fire engine nozzle have been installed on the water tanker. The total cost incurred for this modification was a mere Rs 30,000. It was made at Jaggayyapet in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh.

The experiment yielded a remarkable result. While a standard fire engine, typically costing Rs 1 crore, sprays water up to a range of 25 metres, this modified tanker operates with impressive speed and effectiveness, reaching a range of up to 15 metres.

In the event of a fire accident, instead of waiting for a fire engine to arrive, the mini fire engine could be used as an immediate, preliminary measure to suppress the flames, thus reducing the loss caused by the fires, stated the sarpanch Mani.

It might be noted that stubble burning has led to frequent fire accidents in Chintakani mandal in recent times. A few days ago, two major fire accidents occurred due to stubble burning at Narasimhapuram, Baswapuram, Lachagudem, Chintakani, Seethampet, Timminenipalem villages in the mandal. Similar incidents took place in other mandals.

Farmers suffered heavy losses in the above incidents and it gave birth to the idea of developing the mini fire engine, the first of its kind brought into use in any Telangana village. By spending just Rs 30,000 any water tanker could be turned into a mini fire engine.

As every gram panchayat in Telangana has a tractor water tanker, they could be converted into cost-effective mini fire engines, said Babu Rao, who provided funds for the Seethampet project.