In the wake of a severe indictment of its response time and other operational lacunae by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), the Delhi Fire Service (DFS) has instituted a maintenance schedule aimed at effective delivery of fire-fighting services.
This comes after the DFS, which in May this year received 115 calls on a daily basis as opposed to an average of around 75 in 2015-16, was found lagging in response time, “not adequately equipped” due to issues ranging from a manpower shortage of 42 per cent, the need for 12 more fire stations and lack of fire-fighting vehicles and equipment.
Regular inspections
Officials across its hierarchy – from Station Officers to the Chief Fire Officer – will now undertake weekly to annual inspections and maintenance of equipment, appliances and fire station buildings as per a written order by DFS Director G.C. Mishra issued on July 5, said a senior Delhi government official.
The DFS has 58 fire stations, in addition to a handful of ancillary facilities across the Capital. The Director oversees administration of the facilities, which are further divided into six divisions headed by a Divisional Officer and an Assistant Divisional Officer each.
As per the order, inspections and maintenance operations must now be conducted by Station Officers, Assistants Divisional Officers, Divisional Officers, Deputy Chief Officers and Chief Fire Officers on a weekly, monthly, quarterly, half yearly and annual basis, respectively.
Recording observations
Observations made are to be added to maintenance registers, which would be subjected to scrutiny.
The CAG had recommended that the DFS – which tackled 27,098 fire incidents during 2015-16, up from 23,242 in 2014-15 — expedite the establishment of new fire stations and acquisition and upgrade of required fire vehicles and equipment.
