101 hospitals have been directed to evacuate the buildings due to lack of firefighting tools
Nagpur: Following tragedies in a number of hospitals in the State, an inspection by NMC’s Fire and Emergency Services Department has found 138 hospital buildings in Nagpur unsafe. Subsequent to the finding, 101 hospitals were directed to evacuate the buildings due to lack of firefighting tools in their premises.
The latest inspection was carried out in the city after 24 patients died due to oxygen leakage at a Nashik hospital in the month of April this year.
According to reports, there are more than 600 hospitals in Nagpur, a medical hub in Central India. Out of these hospitals, the NMC’s Fire and Emergency Services Department has so far inspected 255 hospitals. Almost half of these hospitals have been found unsafe by the Fire Department. According to the department, any hospital in the city has to procure a certificate of completion of the building after receiving a no-objection from the Fire Department. The hospitals which failed to comply with the firefighting measures, are issued a show-cause notice under Maharashtra Prevention of Fire and Life Safety Measures Act, 2006. Those hospitals found not taking the necessary firefighting measures are declared unsafe, a senior official of the Fire Department said.
Of the 255 hospitals inspected, 184 had procured first no-objection certificates and 70 had taken the final NOC. However, only 40 hospitals complied with fire fighting norms. During inspection, 138 hospitals have been found violating the fire safety rules and lacked the necessary firefighting tools. Notices have been issued to the building owners asking them to equip the hospitals with necessary fire fighting measures at the earliest. Shockingly, even after the directives, only 39 of the 255 hospitals have complied with the fire fighting steps as ordered by the NMC’s Fire Department.
After the hospitals failed to comply with the notice, the Fire Department acted tough by asking the occupants of the 101 buildings to evacuate.
