Journalism of Courage
The death of two fire brigade personnel in a rescue operation in Mumbai last week has once again brought to the fore the issue of preparedness of firefighting systems across the state.
Pune’s fire brigade works with one-third of the required number of fire stations and personnel, abysmally inadequate number of fire suits and and walkie-talkie sets and poorly maintained helmets that have not been replaced for the last 25 years.
ALSO READ: Colleagues bid adieu to Sanjay Rane and Mahendra Desai
Two officers from Mumbai fire brigade, S Rane and M D Desai, died Saturday after the building that had caught fire collapsed. They were trapped under the debris and could not be taken out. Two more firemen were seriously injured.
A look at the strength, infrastructure and equipment of the Pune fire brigade, by the standards set by the state, shows they are far from prepared to handle any similar emergency.
[related-post]
According to standards set by the State Fire Advisory Council of Maharashtra, considering the over 350 square kilometres of Pune’s area and the population density, the city needs 32 fire stations. Currently, it has only 11. Similarly, the number firefighters required is between 1,400 and 1,500, but the present count is just 480.
A fire department officer said, “This severe inadequacy increases the response time and so the chances of casualties in the emergency situations go up. What is even more unfortunate is that not all of these personnel have been given the complete uniforms. Also, the number of protective helmets are inadequate. Every fire station has four to five helmets, which are over 25 years old. The firemen are often seen not wearing helmets.”
The Indian Express had reported in the past about unavailability of walkie-talkie sets. Following the report, the fire brigade received radio communication sets, but just one per fire station. A fireman said, “The station officer who heads the rescue operation has the walkie-talkie but a jawan who is actually fighting has no option but to use his cellphone to contact the station officer, which is time-consuming and not reliable.”
The poor condition of infrastructure is also evident from the fact that there are just four mechanics to look after the maintenance of the fleet of over 70 vehicles of the fire brigade that include fire tenders, tankers, emergency vans, cars, jeeps, ambulances and vehicles that ferry equipment.
When contacted, chief fire officer Prashant Ranpise said, “The number of fire stations is indeed inadequate but there are proposals in the pipeline. The number of firefighters is proportionate to the number of fire stations. I believe we are adequately equipped.”
PCMC fire brigade no better off
The fire brigade of the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation, which caters to a population of over 20 lakh and an area of over 100 square kilometres, also comprising several hundred industrial units, has to function with just four fire stations as compared to the requirement of at least 15.
PCMC’s chief fire officer Kiran Gawade said, “We currently have 150 fire-fighters but we need at least 250 more. These issues have been taken up several times with various authorities but there has not been any development.”
He added, “We also face an important problem in case of emergency situations. For example, if a certain area needs to be evacuated, we have to co-ordinate with an officer of deputy commissioner of police (DCP) rank or above.
“We do not have any co-ordinating mechanism, where an officer higher-up in the system will ensure smooth rescue efforts and can give orders to officers of all ranks. And I believe it is a problem many other fire brigades in the state also face.”
