SAMPLE
FireGrid
Evidence-grade fire service planning | Method: Dr. Priya Singh, VNIT Nagpur (3 SCIE publications, PhD 2022)

Fire Service Assessment Snapshot: Mumbai (Greater Mumbai)

Prepared 14 July 2026 | Based on publicly available data

Executive summary

Mumbai (Greater Mumbai) operates 24 fire station(s) serving a population of 12,442,373 (Census 2011, Greater Mumbai) across 476.5 km². Assessed against India's national provisioning norms, the city's largest deficit appears under the URDPFI standard: a shortfall of 38.2 stations (61% service gap). Under the research-derived unified benchmark (3 km = 7 min = 30 km² per station), the city requires 15.9 stations against 24 existing. Spatial coverage analysis shows only 53% of the city's area lies within effective road reach of a fire station at the 7-minute response benchmark (and 32% at the stricter 5-minute benchmark).

53%
area within effective reach (7-min / 3 km benchmark)
38.2
station shortfall (worst norm: URDPFI)
24
existing fire stations

1. Benchmark gap assessment

NormRequiredExisting ShortfallService gap
URDPFI (1 station per 200,000 population)62.22438.261%
SFAC (1 station per 10 km²)47.62423.650%
Unified benchmark (1 station per 30 km²; 3 km = 7 min)15.924none0%

Method: availability-index benchmark assessment per Singh, Sabnani & Kapse (2021), International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction 63:102432. The unified benchmark reconciles the SFAC response-time norm (5-7 min) with the URDPFI distance norm (3-4 km) using 1,75,056 real travel-time measurements.

2. Spatial coverage

Response benchmarkStraight-line coverage Effective road coverage*
5 minutes (2 km)41%32%
7 minutes (3 km)63%53%

*Effective road coverage applies the measured network-to-Euclidean service-area ratio (~70%) established in the underlying research: actual road-network reach is systematically smaller than the straight-line buffers conventionally used in planning documents.

(unnamed fire station)Colaba Fire StationBycullaUmerkhadi Fire StationFort Fire BrigadeChembur Fire Station(unnamed fire station)Gowalia Tank Fire StationDadar Fire BrigadeMalwani Fire StationNariman Point Fire StationBorivali FirestationKandivali Fire StationKurla Agnishaman KendraBabasaheb Worlikar Fire StationDindoshi Fire StationBandra Fire BrigadeGoregaon Fire StationMulund Fire BrigadeMini Fire StationVikhroli Fire BrigadeAerodrome Rescue and Fire FightingMarol fire brigadeAndheri Fire Station

Schematic coverage map: red rings = straight-line 3 km reach; green = effective road reach; dashed outline = city boundary.

3. Station registry used

StationCoordinatesPosition status
(unnamed fire station)18.94148, 72.82916approximate
Colaba Fire Station18.91545, 72.82605approximate
Byculla18.97246, 72.83196approximate
Umerkhadi Fire Station18.95796, 72.83264approximate
Fort Fire Brigade18.93507, 72.83464approximate
Chembur Fire Station19.05452, 72.89352approximate
(unnamed fire station)19.03312, 72.84121approximate
Gowalia Tank Fire Station18.96172, 72.81273approximate
Dadar Fire Brigade19.01418, 72.84571approximate
Malwani Fire Station19.19661, 72.82258approximate
Nariman Point Fire Station18.92301, 72.82608approximate
Borivali Firestation19.22982, 72.84000approximate
Kandivali Fire Station19.20603, 72.85054approximate
Kurla Agnishaman Kendra19.08443, 72.88594approximate
Babasaheb Worlikar Fire Station19.01322, 72.82353approximate
Dindoshi Fire Station19.17506, 72.86100approximate
Bandra Fire Brigade19.05044, 72.83756approximate
Goregaon Fire Station19.15350, 72.84033approximate
Mulund Fire Brigade19.17513, 72.94253approximate
Mini Fire Station19.08537, 72.83127approximate
Vikhroli Fire Brigade19.10113, 72.91824approximate
Aerodrome Rescue and Fire Fighting19.09137, 72.87361approximate
Marol fire brigade19.10956, 72.87788approximate
Andheri Fire Station19.11216, 72.84086approximate

24 fire stations mapped in public data. The Mumbai Fire Brigade officially operates around 35; unmapped stations are not shown, so real coverage is better than displayed.

4. Recommendations

1. Close the benchmark gap: plan for none additional station(s) to meet the unified benchmark (placement matters more than count: prioritize uncovered zones on the coverage map).
2. Commission a full assessment (network isochrones on the real road graph, incident-log hotspot analysis, population-weighted coverage, optimal siting) to convert this snapshot into a DPR/NDRF-proposal-grade evidence pack.
3. Funding alignment: the MHA "Scheme for Expansion and Modernization of Fire Services in the States" (launched July 2023, ₹5,000 Cr earmarked under NDRF) requires exactly this class of evidence-backed gap justification.

Method & credentials

Singh P.P., Sabnani C.S., Kapse V.S. (2021). Interpreting benchmark assessment of emergency fire service using geoinformation technology. Int. J. Disaster Risk Reduction 63:102432.

Singh P.P., Sabnani C.S., Kapse V.S. (2021). Hotspot analysis of structure fires in urban agglomeration. Fire (MDPI) 4:38.

Singh P.P., Sabnani C.S., Kapse V.S. (2021). Urbanization and urban fire dynamics using GIS and remote sensing. Arabian Journal of Geosciences 14:2172.

Singh P. (2022). Fire Service in Urban Area: A Case Study of Nagpur City. PhD thesis, VNIT Nagpur.

Disclaimer: This snapshot uses publicly available data (OpenStreetMap, Census of India, public directories); station positions flagged "approximate" are placed at locality level. It is indicative, intended to scope a full assessment, and is not a statutory fire audit. This copy is a SAMPLE for demonstration.