DNA EXCLUSIVE: Maharashtra functioning without a fire services Director since 2014

Notwithstanding rapid urbanisation and industrialisation, Maharashtra does not have a full-fledged Director of Fire Services since 2014. The Mumbai Fire Brigade (MFB) Chief Fire Officer PS Rahangdale is holding this additional charge and his jurisdiction is not merely restricted to Greater Mumbai but extends to 350 urban local bodies, 26 municipal corporations including Mumbai, 283 industrial estates and major 110 industrial areas across the state. The devastating fire accidents at Kamala Mills, the farsan (snack) mart in Saki Naka and at Cinevista film studio in Kanjurmarg have revealed this shocking fact.

It is mandatory under the provision of Maharashtra Fire Prevention & Life Safety Measures Act, 2006 — which came into effect in December 2008 — to appoint the Director of Fire Services with administrative and statutory powers. The previous director, MV Deshmukh, who was appointed in 2005, retired in 2014.

The Director also enjoys power as an Appellate Authority where the petitioner can challenge any order or approval given by the MFB chief fire officer and other district fire officers. However, fire safety experts cite there is a clear conflict of interest and question how the MFB chief fire officer can work as Director of Fire Services and act as an Appellate Authority and hear cases. 

An officer from the state Urban Development Department admitted that the MFB chief fire officer currently assumes charge of Director of Fire Services for the state. The officer told DNA: “It’s up to the state cabinet to take a decision.”