36% of firefighting posts vacant in 25 dists of state

Gandhinagar and Bhavnagar have 48% vacancy; city fire services forced to cater to towns and villages also

- Brendan Dabhi

The TRP Game Zone fire in Rajkot not only exposed the poor fire safety standards in Gujarat but also brought into focus the shortage of firefighting force in the state. While it is known that major cities of Gujarat have massive vacancies in their firefighting force, the situation is no better for the municipalities in 25 districts of the state that have a combined vacancy of a whopping 36%.

The government is now trying to fill these vacant posts with the Gujarat State Fire Prevention Services (GSFPS) on July 2 issuing a letter asking the respective authorities to recruit staff in the regional fire services. The recruitment began after the High Court came down heavily on the state for its lacklustre attitude towards fire safety.