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| August 30, 2007 | Thursday | Sha'aban 16, 1428 |
KARACHI: 100 fire brigade staffers working in other depts
KARACHI, Aug 29: Of the 945 working strength of the fire department, around hundred staff members are actually working in different departments of the City District Government Karachi (CDGK) but continue to draw full service benefits from their parent department, Dawn has learnt.
According to Dawn’s sources, in 2006 a former chief fire officer made a recommendation to the city nazim that these staffers be sent back to their parent department, to which the nazim agreed. Subsequently, the DCO issued a notification that all such fire department personnel should report back to their parent department, but only five men actually returned.
Sources said that the staffers deputed to other departments draw all overtime and other benefits earned by a regular fireman by putting his life on the line. “They have all the public holidays and spend their working hours making tea for the sahib or doing some other work but nevertheless enjoy all possible benefits,” remarked a disgruntled fire officer. “Imagine how a fireman working in difficult circumstances feels when his colleagues are getting the same or even more benefits by doing practically nothing.”
Some employees of the fire department receive all the benefits while sitting at home, added the sources. “These are some 30 men who belong to different political parties,” they said.
Despite such postings, the city council has approved the hiring of an additional 370 men in the fire department, for which space has been made in the budget book. The Sindh government, however, is yet to approve the hiring.
A source in the department told Dawn that the Central Fire Station has 167 personnel on its muster roll, but “on any given day, it would be difficult to find even half the staff, if not half the strength of any particular fire station.” Similarly, the Gulistan-e-Mustafa fire station has 100 personnel on the muster roll but the maximum turnout is usually four to five men, said sources. The same situation exists in other fire stations, where the official strength is high but the ground reality is of very low attendance figures.
Karachi had two fire stations – Saddar and the Central Fire Station at Nishtar Road – in 1947. The number was increased to 10 by 1997, and it has doubled during the last decade. Oddly enough, however, the overall strength of the fire department today is the same as it was in 1997.
On June 9 this year, a circular was issued in the fire department calling 30 persons, including firemen and fire officers, to undergo training for the use of the newly-acquired snorkels.
Before the first day of training concluded, however, the batch of 30 fire personnel was removed and five others, mainly fire drivers, were called for training. Even then, it was later said that there was a communication gap between the Finnish trainers and the five fire drivers.
The fall-out of this eye-wash was evidenced in the fire that recently ravaged the PNSC building, when no trained manpower was available to operate the expensive snorkels that had earlier been inaugurated with much fanfare.
From a strength of 74 fire tenders in 1995-96, the department now officially claims to have 20 or 22 tenders while sources say that the number of working ones lies at 10. The maintenance budget for these tenders never lapsed and was in fact fully utilised annually, but the 10 working tenders are nevertheless in poor condition and could go out of order any time, remarked an insider.
The fire department has an annual maintenance budget of Rs11.5 million.
Between 20 and 25 redundant fire tenders have been moved to the CDGK workshop located in the Mawashah graveyard for what appears to be a reading of funereal rights before they are sold as scrap.
Interestingly enough, the fire department maintains its own workshop, which used to be located at the Gulistan-i-Mustafa fire station and has now been shifted to the Central Fire Station. It has a 29-personnel strength, including a project engineer, motor mechanics, mechanics, a foreman, an assistant foreman, auto electricians, and fitters.
An insider told Dawn that, for example, if a fire tender develops a fault in its self-starter, it is parked and an alternative one is issued if available. If a different vehicle needs then tyres, these are taken off the tender that had the starter problem. The pass-the-parcel cycle continues until the vehicle is stripped of every functioning part and has been reduced to a chassis, said sources.
They pointed out the a monetary sum is claimed and drawn for each replaced tyre (or other part), even though it has actually simply been taken off another vehicle. They added that no maintenance records are kept to keep count of the number of times or type of repairs a certain vehicle has needed.
When these IVECO vehicles arrived in 1995-96, they were fully-equipped with all accessories such as a life detector device, costly blue fire suits and breathing apparatus. Not a single one of these items is now available with the department.
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