Nearly a hundred men have been severely injured due to poor safety nets provided by the Mumbai fire brigade during its ongoing recruitment drive, reports from Hindustan Times stated.
The fire service needs to fill 1,200 positions. Currently, 910 positions have opened in Mumbai for which about 20,000 men have applied so far.
Mumbai Fire Service chief Sanjay Manjrekar, when asked about the poor quality of the safety net said that if a thousand people jump on it every day, it is bound to tear. He further added that only those who get scared or who jump incorrectly sustain injuries.
Substandard quality of training equipments
The physical includes running 800 m in under three minutes, doing 20 pull-ups, and jumping from a height of 19 feet, which is nearly two storeys-high.
The candidates are asked to jump from a height of 19 feet, while a bunch of firemen below hold a large canvas sheet as a safety net. However, the quality of the canvas is poor and it keeps giving way. Due to this, several men have crash-landed with grievous results.
Ankushdada Kurade of the Swabhimani Bhartiya Panther labour union who has been keeping a close watch on the drive claims that around 100 men have had fractures.
Kurade claimed that using canvas as a safety net is an outdated technique and the BMC needs to use inflatable cushioning or pneumatic jumping sheets.
The recruitment drive will last until February 11.
