16 February,2019 07:20 AM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Called to rescue a person who had fallen into a well in Bazarpeth area in Kalyan recently, fire brigade personnel did not enter the well. A report in this paper said they allegedly waited three hours for a scuba diver to arrive and retrieve the body.
The death of two fire brigade officers due to inhalation of toxic gas when they entered a well in November at Kalyan to execute a rescue seems to have made the department cautious.
The fire brigade claimed the man had died at night after he fell into the well. The locals, however, claimed he died while the fire brigade was waiting for the scuba diver to come and dive into the well. The man, apparently, had been screaming for help in the meanwhile.
The fire brigade did not have the equipment for a rescue. A top fire official said that they did not have the skill, either, as they are trained to fight fires not rescue people who have fallen into wells.
The earlier incident when two firefighters died in a well should have been the trigger for the formation of a unit to respond to these kinds of emergencies. Authorities concerned should have sat down and implemented a plan for those who could be called to tackle such situations. There has to be a clear chain of command. The locals may call the fire brigade. The fire brigade personnel should call the experts supposed to intervene. It should be smooth, well-planned and quick.
We have seen operations botched or delayed because there is no plan of action in case of emergencies. There is a lot of passing the buck and time wasting, and this is not just about the well tragedy but applies to all. We need to iron out our responses instead of the tangled web and finger pointing that is disappointingly routine when accidents occur.
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