Who will come to the rescue of these firemen?

KOCHI: Expecting vehicles with improved mechanism, the employees of the Fire and Rescue Services were in for a rude shock.Twenty-eight chassis bought by the department with supposedly built-in power steering were found to be fitted with mechanical steering. To add to their woes, 38 chassis bought a few months ago are left to rust without proper care.“Of the 38 chassis bought last year, only three have in-built power steering. The remaining chassis had a sticker that read power steering. It has the sticker, but in fact the vehicle has only manual steering,” sources with the Fire and Rescue Service stations said.When contacted, Commander-General of Fire and Rescue Services K G Premsankar confirmed that the chassis have been left unattended. “It should not have been left to fight with the vagaries of nature,” he said.D Ullas, Station Officer, Central Store, Thiruvananthapuram, said that all the vehicles were purchased according to the Directorate General of Supplies and Disposals (DGS &D) specification.“We bought the vehicles with mechanical steering and not power steering. But when asked about the sticker that reads ‘power steering’ he said it might be a mistake made by the company,” he said.Each of these chassis is worth Rs 8 to 10 lakh. They also alleged that such deceits were happening not for the first time. The fire engines are literally crawling in times of emergency. “We are bearing the brunt of the callousness of the authorities. Something is sneaking in the deal. Otherwise they would not have supplied the unwanted vehicles,” they said.The Fire and Rescue Services requires efficient vehicles that can tackle the situation quite easily. “Besides this, to fix a body to the chase, it takes around `20 lakh and as far our knowledge goes the amount has not been earmarked for the purpose,”  sources said. “In other states, the Home Minister personally attends to these details and gives instructions every now and then, here it is just the other way round,” they added.Moreover, the vehicles which are supposed to carry a specific capacity will be often overloaded, which makes the vehicle totally crippled. “What is the use of fire engines, if they cannot be utilised in times of emergency? they asked.