Vasai fire brigade officials 'kill', bury injured flamingo

Inexperienced fire brigade officers from Vasai-Virar Fire Brigade allegedly killed an injured flamingo on their premises on Tuesday night. They also failed to inform the forest department and allegedly buried the bird on Wednesday morning at the fire station without conducting a post-mortem.

Locals had rescued the injured flamingo from Umelman's marshy land. They had then informed the fire brigade. The bird, which had injured its wings, was eating well and recovering, but as soon as it was handed over to the fire officers, it died due to suspected mishandling.

"We had handed over the bird to the fire officers; it was limping but healthy, the injuries were not life-threatening. It seems the officers could not handle the bird properly and hence killed it," said Nelson Lobo, a resident of Umelman.

Sub-fire officer and in-charge of the department's Vasai East division Umesh Dhodi, however, said, "Our team brought the bird to the fire station and a vet from an NGO checked it but could not save it. So, we buried it in the garden of our fire station between two trees." The fire brigade was apparently unaware of the rules.

As per forest department's norms, death of wild animals and migratory birds has to be probed.

"The fire brigade officers are not trained to deal with wild animals, birds and reptiles. But in case of any fatality, the dead animal/bird should be handed over to the forest department immediately," said Shakuntala Majumdar, president, Thane SPCA.

"If the bird or animal is suspected to have died due to a disease, the forest department should carry out a post-mortem to ascertain the cause of death. After that, it should be buried where facilities exist or in a, 8-foot deep pit."