Deputy Chief Fire Officer Shashikant Kale suspended
A No Objection Certificate (NOC) to a recently issued for a redeveloped building on Ranade Road in Mahim triggered the suspension of Deputy Chief Fire Officer Shashikant Kale on Friday for flouting fire safety rules.
Additional Municipal Commissioner Sanjay Deshmukh, who is in-charge of the fire brigade confirmed the suspension and said that a Departmental enquiry has been initiated against Kale.
“He was given charge of Zone-5, which covers areas like Chembur, Mankhurd, Govandi and Shivaji Nagar for two days, earlier this month, while the other Deputy Chief Officer was on leave. He recalled the file of a redeveloped building whose fire NOC was rejected earlier and granted a fire NOC to the building throwing Supreme Court guidelines and the municipal commissioner’s circular on fire safety norms to the winds,” a senior civic official said.
Kale has courted several controversies in the past as well. He was involved in a controversy in April, where the file from a deputy chief fire officer to cancel the NOC granted to an under-construction high-rise, Dani Sadan at Walkeshwar in Malabar Hill, had mysteriously gone missing from the chief fire officer's cabin.
Furthermore, Kale had deferred his own transfer order, along with that of the then chief fire officer AN Varma and three other colleagues.
The BMC launched an inquiry and found him guilty of gross indiscipline and fined him with Rs 50,000 in July earlier this year.
In November last year, Kale was accused of threatening a clerk in the department to secure copies of the confidential reports of two deputy chief officers secretly.
Additional Municipal Commissioner Sanjay Deshmukh, who is in-charge of the fire brigade confirmed the suspension and said that a Departmental enquiry has been initiated against Kale.
“He was given charge of Zone-5, which covers areas like Chembur, Mankhurd, Govandi and Shivaji Nagar for two days, earlier this month, while the other Deputy Chief Officer was on leave. He recalled the file of a redeveloped building whose fire NOC was rejected earlier and granted a fire NOC to the building throwing Supreme Court guidelines and the municipal commissioner’s circular on fire safety norms to the winds,” a senior civic official said.
“When any officer is holding additional charge, it is not his job to call back already closed files. Obviously he issued the NOC for vested interests or a quid pro quo. A preliminary inquiry was conducted into the matter and it was found that there was major lapse on Kale’s part,” the official added.
Kale has courted several controversies in the past as well. He was involved in a controversy in April, where the file from a deputy chief fire officer to cancel the NOC granted to an under-construction high-rise, Dani Sadan at Walkeshwar in Malabar Hill, had mysteriously gone missing from the chief fire officer's cabin.
Furthermore, Kale had deferred his own transfer order, along with that of the then chief fire officer AN Varma and three other colleagues.
The BMC launched an inquiry and found him guilty of gross indiscipline and fined him with Rs 50,000 in July earlier this year.
In November last year, Kale was accused of threatening a clerk in the department to secure copies of the confidential reports of two deputy chief officers secretly.
