MFSU on Tuesday presented a list of demands to improve the pitiable condition of the fire brigade to municipal commissioner Ajoy Mehta.
The city's fire brigade team which lost three senior officers to the fire at Gokul Niwas in Kalbadevi is falling short of not only man force but also from meeting standards set by the central government.
With over 626 vacant posts across all major departments, the fire brigade is facing severe dearth of hands, coupled with criticism over the quality-based Personal Protection Appliances (PPA) provided to its staff. "The situation is very dangerous. The force is operating with a small number of hands and inferior fire protection equipments since several years," Mumbai Fire Services Union's (MFSU) secretary Ramakant Bane said.
Bane was addressing a press conference on Wednesday where he pointed fingers at the alleged corruption when fire fighting equipments are purchased and posts filled.
Taking support of the mandate of the Standing Fire Advisory Council (SFAC) set up by Ministry of Home Affairs in 1955 - which has outlined response time of a fire brigade in case if any fire-related incidents to be between three to five minutes, Bane claimed that the city's fire team took more than 13 minutes to reach Gokul House.
"This is because they lack proper tools and are already short-staffed," Bane alleged. He added that the island city requires 44 fire stations but is currently battling blazes with only 33.
As per the numbers provided by him there are - 346 vacant posts in fire fighting department, 63 in administration-related work, 185 in establishment department, 48 in fire stations tallying to a total of 626 vacancies. The MFSU on Tuesday presented a list of demands to improve the pitiable condition of the fire brigade to municipal commissioner Ajoy Mehta.
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