DNA: Thane: Friday, May 22, 2015.
A Right to
Information (RTI) application filed by the Dharmarajya Party revealed that
Thane city was short of nine fire fighting stations. The RTI was filed by the
party following the fateful Kalbadevi fire which took the lives of three fire
fighters. It was further observed that the fire fighting stations did not have
the required ladders for accessing tall buildings in emergency situations.
The RTI reply
also stated that by December 2015, three fire stations were supposed to become
functional in Thane. “As per the reply, Nitin Junction, Owala and Desai road
were supposed to get these three stations. Owala and Desai road are only
mentioned on paper, no construction had begun yet. It was also found that 384
positions in the fire stations are vacant. The water pumps too are of a low
quality, in needs of up-gradation,” said the General Seceratry of Dharamrajya
Kamgaar Karmachari Mahasangh, Mahesh Singh Thakur.
In 2015,
three fire stations are likely to be functional, three more in 2020 and the
remaining three in 2025, the RTI reply stated. “This data is from January 2011
to March 2015 which also says that the existing fire stations are in need of 40
men,” Thakur added.
Arvind
Mandke, Chief Fire Officer of Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC), however, said
that regular fire audits were carried out for the city's fire stations. He
added that the vacant posts will be filled soon. He also clarified that the
fire fighters were getting all the basic facilities regularly.
Rajan Raje,
leader of Dharmarajya Party, had said that the party would protest in the
evening today, May 21, at various places in Thane city as well as Byculla with
regard to the death of the fire-fighters in the Kalabadevi fire incident. “On
May 21, families who lost their brave warriors will perform rites of the 13th
day and we will thus protest tomorrow,” he said.