Southern K’taka fire stations face acute manpower shortage, work hit

Mysuru: Vacancies against sanctioned strength in the department of fire and emergency services have begun to pose challenges in most parts of southern Karnataka due to a shortage of frontline responders.Officers attributed the situation to delays in recruitment and a promotion policy under which vacant senior-level posts are filled immediately. This, in turn, creates vacancies at the ground level.Vacancies among firefighters were higher in southern Karnataka than in northern districts, as personnel appointed from north Karnataka later sought transfers to their native districts. An officer suggested that instead of a centralised appointment process, firefighter appointments should be conducted at the district or regional level to help retain personnel in their respective areas.The department's promotion policy also created vacancies among ground-level staffers or firemen, as when vacancies existed at senior level, the senior-most employee was promoted and the post of firemen or firefighters or first-line defenders fell vacant every month. There was no recruitment process in the recent past, and now govt initiated steps.According to data shared by minister G Parameshwara while replying to a query by MLC Kishor Kumar Puttur on fire station-wise vacancies, about 25% of the 219 fire stations across Karnataka had more than 10 posts vacant against sanctioned strength. Only 20 stations—most of them in northern Karnataka—had zero vacancies as of March 1, 2026.About 12 stations, including one each in Mysuru, Mandya and Kodagu, had more than 20 personnel vacancies.Regional fire officer of Mysuru division, P Chandan, said the shortage existed only at the fireman level due to the promotion policy. "Every month, personnel retire on superannuation and immediate promotions are carried out. Since recruitment is not conducted regularly, vacancies persist only at the fireman level. However, this has not affected operations, as the department is equipped with advanced vehicles to handle fire incidents," he said.Sources claimed that during summer firefighters faced inconvenience because of weekly-off issues due to more fire calls. Most of the emergency calls were related to grass and garbage fire.Mysuru district fire officer KP Gururaj said Mysuru district, which has 11 fire stations, had vacancies against sanctioned strength, but it was not an issue as every station had more than half of sanctioned strength, which was sufficient. On average, seven fire cases were being reported in the district this summer, including two-three cases in Mysuru city.Gururaj said due to increased awareness programmes in schools and colleges by the department there were fewer fire incidents.BoxFire stations: Sanctioned strength: VacancyMysuru:Saraswathipuram: 64: 21Banni mantap: 54: 17Periyapatna: 24: 12HD Kote: 27: 12Mandya:Mandya: 41: 25Maddur: 27: 12Nagamangala: 24: 13Kodagu:Kushalnagar: 39: 25Somwarpet: 24: 12Chamarajanagar:Hanur: 27: 13Gundlupet: 27: 10HassanAlur: 18: 14Sakleshpura: 27: 12** Sources: Karnataka Legislative Council