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Residents say delays in response occurred during outage; department’s contractual employees claim they haven’t been paid for two months
Ulhasnagar Fire Department personnel. PIC/NAVNEET BARHATE
Ten days after going out of service on February 16, the landline emergency service at the Fire Department under the Ulhasnagar Municipal Corporation (UMC) has resumed operations. Meanwhile, contractual employees at the department claim they have not been paid salaries for the past two months.
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Chief Fire Officer Suresh Bombe confirmed to mid-day that the emergency services were disrupted due to ongoing road digging as part of construction work undertaken by the corporation. He added that the department had requested local police to cooperate and coordinate in case of fire-related emergencies.
“In case of a fire emergency, the police contacted us via mobile phones, so we managed to respond appropriately without any problems,” said Bombe. However, local residents told mid-day that during the 10-day outage, there were instances when fire brigade personnel arrived late due to communication delays.
“By the time the police informed the department, it was already late. There is a reason why the fire department has landline services—it allows locals to contact the team directly. Some residents, unaware that they needed to contact the police in such emergencies, ran to the fire brigade office to report incidents in person,” said a resident requesting anonymity. Meanwhile, another issue plaguing the fire brigade is the delay in salaries for contractual personnel.
A department employee told mid-day that, like many others, he has not been paid for the past two months. “It’s difficult to survive without two months’ salary, especially when many of our families rely solely on us. Despite this, we have not neglected our responsibilities.” Another employee added, “Not getting our salaries on time is injustice.”
Addressing the issue, Bombe explained, “The problem arose from the contractors responsible for paying the contractual employees. When they submitted salary-related documents for December and January, they forgot to attach bank statements and other necessary paperwork, which delayed the process. A new tender has been issued, and the salaries will be released soon.” Additionally, several officials at the fire department have requested mobile phones to help personnel communicate more effectively during emergencies.
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