Fire department set for overhaul with 200 new posts for Gurgaon

GURGAON: The fire department will soon become independent of the MCG and work directly under the supervision of the state government in a long-awaited overhaul that will also see the recruitment of 200 more personnel to match the city's needs.
Pankaj Agarwal, director of urban local bodies — the parent department of civic corporations — said on Sunday the fire departments in Gurgaon, Faridabad and Hisar would become independent by October.This will also lead to the creation of 2,780 new posts statewide, he added.
In Gurgaon, a total of 200 posts will be created across fire stations in Sector 29, Sector 37 and Bhim Nagar. "Of the 200, 65 posts will be for the Bhim Nagar fire station, 80 posts for Sector 29 and 51 posts for Sector 37," Agarwal said. "The posts under each fire station have been decided on the basis of the population under its area. There will be 43 posts at the headquarter level apart form 24 posts to be created as part of establishing training centres in Gurgaon and other areas," Agarwal added.
Agarwal, who is also head of the fire services under the ULB, said the salary structure of personnel would also be revised.
Gurgaon's fire services has a regular staff strength of just 44 officials, including an additional district fire officer, three fire station officers, one assistant fire station officer, 12 leading firemen, 20 firemen and seven drivers. Apart from these, there are about 84 employees hired on contract, taking the total strength in Gurgaon to 128.
The city currently has only five fire stations, one of which is run by DLF. The National Disaster Response Force had last year said after a survey that Gurgaon need at least 17 fire stations to effectively tackle fire hazards. Gurgaon has 700-odd highrises where at least 344 fire tenders are needed at all times, the report added.