After losing four senior fire officials in the Kalbadevi incident in a span of three weeks, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will be undertaking mass promotions to fill up all the vacant posts for the Mumbai Fire Brigade in the next 15 days, senior civic officials confirmed. The corporation has also initiated a health check-up for all the senior fire officials above the age of 45. With suspensions and long leave, the department is left with only two deputy chief fire officers (DCFO), PS Rahangdale (1988 batch) and KV Hivrale (1988 batch), in the senior posts. [related-post] While Rahangdale is now the acting CFO in place of Nesrikar, who breathed his last on Sunday after suffering 50 per cent burn injuries in the incident, Hivrale is the only DCFO on duty currently. Hivrale is now handling the charge of the entire city, including the six regions. Sanjay Deshmukh, additional municipal commissioner, in-charge of the fire department, said, “We will fill up all the posts by undertaking promotions within the department. We are expecting to complete the task within a fortnight.” According to officials, current acting chief fire officer P S Rahangdale or deputy chief fire officer KV Hivrale will be given the post of chief fire officer. Recent data also reveals that there are 58 posts vacant in the 1,686-strong force. tanushree.venkatraman@expressindia.com
