13 Mumbai Fire Personnel Awarded President's Medal for Gallantry for Monorail Rescue

Thirteen fire officials and personnel, including the Chief Fire Officer of the Mumbai Fire Brigade, have been awarded the President’s Medal for Gallantry on the occasion of Independence Day for rescuing 582 passengers from a stranded Monorail rake between Bhakti Park and Mysore Colony.

The rescue operation took place following an incident on August 19 last year, when a Monorail rake became stuck between the two stations for two hours. The train had halted mid-track after a technical glitch triggered a complete power failure.

Officers and personnel of the Mumbai Fire Brigade operated at a height of 40 to 50 feet to evacuate the passengers. The team managed to safely bring down all 582 stranded commuters without any loss of life.

During the incident, passengers were trapped inside the rake and experienced suffocation due to the power cut. Several commuters fainted inside the train, while others were seen banging on the glass windows and pleading for help. Emergency teams had to wait nearly two hours to begin the actual rescue operation, as the electrical power supply to the tracks had to be completely severed first to ensure safety.

The 13 personnel named for the gallantry honour are RN Ambulgekar, AV Parab, MV Sawant, IK Kamble, YH Pawar, DA Bhosale, Rajesh Rane, Mahesh Gudulkar, Ramesh Koli, Harshal Katke, Chintamani Khandekar, Vicky Sarvade, and Sudarshan Pavade.

Officials noted that the mission presented severe operational challenges, describing it as the largest and most difficult rescue operation of its kind. The stranded Monorail rake had tilted completely during the stoppage and faced a severe risk of collapsing from the elevated track during the evacuation process.