Shocking: Half of Mumbai's firemen don't know how to swim

Howrsquos this for irony Police aspirants who will probably never have to run five kilometres in one go are made to do so and several die in the process but those aspiring to be firemen mdashwho are often required to part of flood rescue operations and are posted at beaches during the monsoons donrsquot need to know swimmingTwo boys fell into the water after huge waves lashed Marine Drive While one of them was rescued the other died Fire brigade officers are seen here pulling out the body File picAnd if you thought lessons were learnt after the 2005 deluge in the city think again Should another such tragedy befall Mumbai remember not to go to the firemen for help for more than half of them do not know how to swimWith the cases of people drowning increasing every year the BMC has deployed lifeguards at almost all the beaches but not at places like Marine Drive or Gateway of India Even today when someone falls in the water in these areas the fire brigade is called and the fireman on duty has to rush to the spot even if he doesnrsquot know swimmingFire brigade personnel look on as a drowning man is rescued at Banganga File picKeeping all this in mind concerned citizens and corporators have voiced the need for making knowledge of swimming mandatory for recruitment and training all the existing 2500 firemen in the Mumbai Fire Brigade more than 1300 of whom do not know how to swim Whatrsquos more speaking to midday firemen and their unions agreed to the proposal but the BMC has said making it a precondition is not possibleSpecial teamsSpeaking on condition of anonymity a senior fire official said ldquoA specialised lsquoflood and rescue teamrsquo was set up in 2006 a year after the 26 July deluge but no fireman is interested in being a part of itTwo things hold them back most of them do not know how to swim and the lack of incentives ensures that signing up for it means taking up extra workload without any additional compensationrdquoThis he said is despite the team proving useful in the past ldquo22 members of this team were sent to floodaffected areas in Bihar in 2008 to carry out rescue operations It was the teamrsquos first rescue operation outside Maharashtrardquo he addedMNS corporator from Shivaji Park Sandeep Deshpande recalled the deaths of more than 600 people in the city in the 2005 cloudbursts and deaths due to drowning at various beaches ldquoThe city must be prepared It is necessary for every fireman to know how to swim and those who donrsquot must be trainedrdquo said DeshpandeFiremen unions agree ldquoThe percentage of firemen who do not know swimming must be over 50 Firemen must know how to swim and the administration must put knowledge of swimming as a precondition for recruitment along with all the other conditions and requirementsrdquo said Advocate Sukhadev Kashid general secretary Mumbai Fire Service UnionSanjay KambleBaperkar general secretary of the Agnishaman Bahujan Karmachari Sangh agreed with the over 50 figure and said ldquoThe fire brigade is part of disaster management and firemen should know how to swim The civic administration should train them after recruiting them as firemenrdquoBMC speakThe civic administration however indicated that there is no need for all firemen to know how to swim Sanjay Deshmukh additional municipal commissioner who handles the Fire Brigade department said ldquoWe cannot put knowledge of swimming as a condition to become a firemanNo such precondition exists anywhere in India including the defence forces They train recruits after they are hiredrdquo Asked if the BMC does that he replied ldquoWe deploy only those firemen who know how to swim at beaches and areas like Marine Drive We train firemen at the civic swimming poolrdquo