News: Noida’s tallest fire platform stops at the 14th floor despite over 1,500 high-rises-30-04-2026
Noida has more than 1,500 high-rises above eight floors and over 1,000 medium-rise buildings, yet the Gautam Budh Nagar Fire Department has only four hydraulic platforms. The tallest reaches 42 metres, roughly 14 floors. The gap became visible on Wednesday, when one of these platforms was sent to Ghaziabad to help with a high-rise fire.
Chief fire officer Pradeep Chaubey confirmed that the highest platform can handle fires only up to about the 14th floor, and said a 72-metre platform sanctioned earlier should arrive in one or two months. A senior department official said that above that height the department depends largely on a building’s internal firefighting systems.
Many towers in the city have 20 or 30 floors. RWAs and planners note that above the reach of the platforms, response relies on sprinklers and hydrants, which may not work well in extreme conditions. KK Jain, secretary general of the Federation of Noida Residents Welfare Associations, said the district has over a thousand high-rises and needs the longest available platforms. He said residents wrote to the director general of police in Lucknow about a year ago seeking the tallest lifts, with no action, and that people above the 13th or 14th floor remain at constant risk.
The department has proposed buying platforms with reach of 72, 92 and even 104 metres, which could serve buildings of 30 storeys or more. The Supernova tower in Sector 94, one of India’s tallest residential buildings at nearly 300 metres and close to 80 floors, shows how fast the skyline is rising. Experts warn that fires spread quickly through shafts and ducts in tall buildings and evacuation gets harder with height.
Manpower is also short: the department has 85 personnel against a sanctioned strength of around 350.
On April 24, the department demonstrated a Compressed Air Foam system, which combines water, foam and air, on the 45th floor of a Sector 94 high-rise. UP Fire and Emergency Services director general Sujeet Pandey led the demonstration and said the system can help control high-rise fires quickly, adding that work is on to upgrade firefighting infrastructure in the district.
