The Delhi High Court on Thursday sought a response from the city government on whether it had done anything to fill over 45% vacancies in the Delhi Fire Service (DFS).
The court’s direction came on a petition by the Association of the Victims of Uphaar Tragedy (AVUT), which relied on a news report published in The Hindu on May 21 (‘Delhi’s fire department in need of rescue’), to highlight the shocking manpower crunch in the fire department.
A Bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice V.K. Rao issued a notice to the Delhi government on the plea, which contended that fire safety arrangements in the Capital had not improved even 21 years after the Uphaar tragedy claimed 59 lives.
‘Shocking state of affairs’
The AVUT, represented by senior advocate Vikas Pahwa, said in its plea that RTI data had revealed a shocking state of affairs in the fire department.
Despite sanctioned manpower of 3,623, 1,641 posts are lying vacant in the DFS, and awaiting both promotional and direct recruitment, the plea added.
Of 90 posts of station officer, who is the overall head of a particular station, 55 are lying vacant. In the case of firemen or fire operators, 1,251 of the sanctioned 2,367 posts are vacant.
The plea said the most glaring vacancies in the fire department exist in the communication department. Of 133 sanctioned posts in the communication department, only 50 are filled and 83 are still vacant.
Shortage of manpower in the communication’s department in the DFS will lead to delay in response time, the plea said.
Several loopholes
The petition added that a 2015 report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) had found several loopholes in the functioning of the DFS.
The report, it said, found that the fire service was not just ill-equipped in case of an emergency but also short-staffed.
Quoting from the report, the plea said the DFS had six skylifts to be used in incidents of firefighting at different heights.
Of the total skylifts, the department had procured a 70-metre aerial ladder platform (skylift) in 2014-15 to fight fires at a height of approximately 220 feet.
However, Delhi also has buildings that are over 220 feet tall.
These include the Civic Centre, which is 335-foot-tall; the Grand InterContinental (The Lalit), which is 328-foot-tall; and Palika Kendra, which is 299-foot-tall
The pleas said the DFS did not have any firefighting equipment to tackle incidents of fire taking place at a height of more than 220 feet.