Short-staffed Cidco fire dept gets 60 employees

PANVEL: The fire department of City and Industrial Development Corporation is all set to increase its efficiency as it had employed more staff.

The department has employed youths on a permanent basis.

“A total of 60 personnel, including five drivers and 55 personnel, have been recruited for the four fire stations. They have been deployed at the fire stations after their training,” said a Cidco official, on condition of anonymity.

There are plans to further augment the staff strength of the department as it will boost the capability of the department to face incidents of fire in the nodes.

With a number of high-rises, shops, showrooms, schools, colleges, restaurants and hospitals coming up in the nodes, the responsibility on the department has also increased.

The increase in transportation, industrialisation and urbanisation of the area has increased fire accidents in the region.

The Cidco fire department has to attend calls for help in case of fires in Thane and Raigad districts also.

Despite the increasing workload, there is a shortage of personnel in the department.

There were just six permanent firemen so far and the rest were employed on contract-basis for the past several years.

There were three station fire officers, three assistant fire officers, 43 firemen, eight leading firemen, 16 drivers.

Currently, the four fire stations have just five fire tenders and there is only one outdated vehicle to combat fire in high rises. There is a need for around 10 to 15 vehicles according to fire department officials. A proposal for the same is presently being prepared.

Since the staff strength is less than the requirement according to the population of the region, Cidco had on August 28 published an advertisement seeking applications from candidates to fill up vacant positions.

“Examinations of the candidates were conducted on September 13. The successful candidates have been absorbed on a permanent basis,” said the official.