Sujata Pathak wants to acquaint citizens with their history and work; this will be discussed in the civic general body meeting today
The dedication, bravery and selflessness of Mumbai Fire Brigade personnel is well known. To honour them and in order to acquaint citizens with the fire brigade’s history and work, Mulund corporator Sujata Pathak has demanded a museum dedicated to it in a prime location in the city.
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The room will be at the fire brigade’s command centre at Byculla, and will have samples of firemen’s uniforms, equipment and artifacts. File pics
The proposal will be discussed in the civic general body meeting today. On Friday night, the city reported a major fire in Dadar’s Kabutarkhana in which one fireman suffered minor injuries. In May this year, four senior brigade officials lost their lives in the line of duty at the Kalbadevi fire.
One of them, late chief fire officer Sunil Nesrikar, was posthumously awarded the President’s gallantry medal for his service. Pathak, MNS corporator from Mulund, has put forth the demand in the form of a point of order notification, which will be discussed in the civic general body meeting.
“Our firemen undertake a lot of tasks such as firefighting, saving lives during building collapses, tackling short circuit, drowning, bird rescue and others. This, despite a lack of advanced equipment, increasing number of high rises and traffic jams. That’s why it is important that people are acquainted with the history and work of the Mumbai Fire Brigade.
A well-equipped museum should be constructed in their honour,” reads Pathak’s point of order, dated September 8. If approved in today’s meeting, it will be sent to the municipal commissioner for his remarks, and only after his approval will it be sanctioned.
When asked about this, P S Rahangdale, chief fire officer said, “Although there is no museum right now, we are in the process of creating a proposal for a display room at the Byculla command centre. The room will have samples of firemen’s uniforms, equipment and artifacts. Besides, it will also showcase the history of the brigade.
Once the proposal is complete, it will be sent to the municipal commissioner for approval. We are hoping to start work in a couple of months.” Rahangdale could not comment on the cost of the project since bids are yet to be invited. But he said that the display room, a type of museum, will be one of its kind in the city.