Pune: The Civic Agency Fire Department has operated with less than half of the staff needed due to the delay in approval of recruitment rules.
The draft rules were sent to the state government in 2018, but had not been approved.
Nearly 55% of the post in the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) firefight department has been empty for about three years.
ALOG Nagrik Manches, a group of citizens, has written to the government to accelerate the approval process.
“PMC’s jurisdiction increases and firefighters must be equipped to deal with any accidents,” Vivek Veekkar said from the group.
According to Civic administration data, the Fire Brigade Department of PMC has 910 posts.
Of this number, 527 empty posts.
“Staff requirements are based on old demands.
Labor needs can rise in the coming days when 23 villages have been combined in PMC limits,” said Prashant Ranpise, Head of the Fire Brigade.
He said the department had provided details of the lack of staff for citizenship administration, which followed up.