Ironic as it may seem, but the fire officers who risked their lives battling armed terrorists during the November attacks at the Taj Hotel, find themselves out of favour in a list recommending for the Ashok Chakra, Shaurya Chakra and Keerti Chakra, the nation's peacetime gallantry awards for 26/11 heroes.
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INJUSTICE: Heroes like Deputy Chief Fire Officer Uday Tatkare (left), who helped the rescue operations at the Taj Hotel, has not been recommended by Chief Fire Officer A V Sawant (Right) |
Ironic as it may seem, but the fire officers who risked their lives battling armed terrorists during the November attacks at the Taj Hotel, find themselves out of favour in a list recommending for the Ashok Chakra, Shaurya Chakra and Keerti Chakra, the nation's peacetime gallantry awards for 26/11 heroes.
The Mahapalika Karmachari Union has alleged that the Chief Fire Officer has been partial in recommending the names from the department. It is learnt that the CFO has recommended his own name and that of deputy chief fire officer from Colaba P Rahangdale.
In a letter to the Municipal Commissioner, Sanjay Kamble, general secretary, Mahapalika Karmachari Sanghatana, said that the name of Deputy Chief Fire Officer Uday Tatkare, who manned the Ariel Ladder Platform (ALP) helping the rescue operations at the Taj Hotel, was not in the list.
"Tatkare's skills in operating the ALP, snorkel and turnaround table ladder are well-acknowledged in the department. He helped two NSG commandos reach the eastern side of the hotel enabling them to fire at the terrorists. Still his name wasn't recommended," said Kamble. Tatkare, second in the city fire brigade hierarchy, manned the ALP till the rescue operation at the Taj was completed.
"I did what the situation demanded. I am not after awards," said Tatkare.
When contacted, CFO A V Sawant told MiD DAY, "Those who have been recommended risked their lives during 26/11. I was at the forefront at Nariman House, Taj and Oberoi. Grenades were thrown at Rahangdale and me, and we have video evidence to support our recommendations."
Sawant added, "The allegations of discrimination are baseless. We gave increments to the 400 firemen involved in the 26/11 operations."
Dr Jairaj Phatak, Municipal Commissioner confirmed that Sawant had recommended his own name, but added, "The list has one recommendation for Ashok Chakra and the rest for Shaurya and Kirti Chakra. The CFO's name was approved by his seniors (additional municipal commissioner)."
Kishore Gajbhiye, additional municipal commissioner under whom the Mumbai fire brigade falls, said, "We are relying on the list sent by the CFO. He heads the team and has supervised the operation."u00a0
Fire brigade's bravery in numbers
500, the number of people rescued by the fire brigade from the Taj
200, the number of firemen who undertook the operation at various terror sites
2, the number of bullet-proof jackets the firemen had between them
6, the number ALPs used during the terror operations
