Staff crunch takes fire out of station

Tribune News Service

Mohali, May 17

Having at least 13 vehicles, equipped with advanced firefighting systems, the Mohali Fire Station seems to be fully prepared to deal with any fire emergency. However, "all is not well" when it comes to the manpower there.

Against the sanctioned posts of 80 firemen, the station has just 23 officials. Similarly, the station has just one leading fireman whereas the number of sanctioned posts is 24.

The station has 13 firefighting vehicles -- three water tenders (5,000 litres each), four multipurpose tenders, one water bouser (20,000 litres), one Branto sky lift (height 56 metres), one rescue tender (equipped with cutters), one firefighting jeep and two motorcycles -- to deal with any fire emergency in the area.

There are 24 sanctioned posts of driver at the station, but it has just seven drivers. 

“Given the staff strength, one can easily gauge the pressure under which the employees work here,” said an official on condition of anonymity. 

“In the past 15 days, the station received around 80 calls of fire incidents,” claimed the official. 

2 more fire stations  

The Mohali Municipal Corporation has a plan to construct two more fire stations at Sectors 78 and 65 here. The maps and drawings of the project have already been passed, but the project is yet to take off at the ground level.   

Violation of norms 

The local fire authorities seem to be lethargic when it comes to issuing notices for violation of fire safety norms. “The staff shortage is the main reason behind this,” said an official. Around 15 notices have been issued in this connection in the past couple of months.