The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Tuesday issued orders for the medical examination of all fire officials above the age of 45. According to officials, the health check-up will include their lipid profile, blood tests and stress levels. The firefighters can undertake their health check-up in any of the municipal hospitals in the city. According to officials, there are more than a 1,000 officials above the age of 45 in the 2,800-strong brigade. Their health-check-up is scheduled in the coming two weeks. [related-post] Sanjay Deshmukh, additional municipal commissioner, in-charge of the fire department said, “There are a lot of diseases. We are taking these steps to ensure that their physical and mental fitness levels are maintained.” The orders come in the wake of the recent Kalbadevi fire incident where a massive fire led to the collapse of the four-storey Gokul Nivas, two weeks back. The incident has highlighted major lacunas in the department with experts demanding a complete overhaul of the brigade. A fire official said, “This is the first time the civic body has taken such steps to ensure our medical fitness. A health check-up is essential for any person post the age of 40, especially for firefighters who face so much stress on duty.” Apart from medical tests, the civic body is also looking at means to motivate the brigade fazed by the loss of three senior fire officials - S G Amin, S W Rane and M M Desai. A senior civic official, who is also a part of the seven-member panel appointed to probe the incident said, “We are looking at the human resource factor seriously. We have to develop ways to keep the force motivated and ways to make them resourceful.” tanushree.venkatraman@expressindia.com
